Daylight
by Bluestarshine
Summary: The daylight is dying away in the west, the wild birds are flying in silence to rest. Maggie & Hal are partners; they care for each other, need each other, and look after each other. When things start falling apart, and the daylight disappears, can they survive? Can anyone survive this world? A story about survival, the strength of our hearts, and how all bonds can be broken.
1. The shadows of the lost

**Disclaimer: Falling skies; is copyright to TNT. All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement is intended, and no money is being made. I claim nothing and own nothing but the laptop I wrote this on, any OC's I have or will include and the storyline (the parts I created of the storyline).**

* * *

The room is cold, chilling, and unwelcoming as Hal slowly wakes to it.

His eyes remain closed, his body remains stiff and still, and for a moment he simply draws in short breaths of air.

His eyes flutter open slowly, almost against his will, and for a second he simply stares upwards at the grey, empty ceiling above him.

The room is mostly dark, shadows of darkness stained and cast over the ceiling.

He moves slowly, readjusting his body so that instead of lying down he is seated.

He turns his head stiffly, his neck aching with a strong sharp pain as he does, and casts a long and slow look over the unfamiliar setting which he has found himself in.

He doesn't say a word, he doesn't call out for another, even though he wakes to a darkness and a loneliness which he finds no solace, no comfort, and no light in.

He doesn't remember how he came to be here, he doesn't understand why his head aches, why it throbs incessantly and why something so simple as a mirror resting on the farther wall in the room catches his attention.

But it does catch his attention.

Slowly, he sets his feet down upon the floor, finding that he wears only socks and no shoes.

He steadies himself before he stands.

He only takes a moment to exhales softly, a moment to hesitate, before he finds himself stepping towards the mirror.

He reaches for the string attached to the light and tugs at it.

The light is burning and bright, and causes his head to ache.

He recoils away from it at first, as it is far too bright and blinding, but in seconds he becomes accustomed to the light and so reopens his eyes.

He stares at his own reflection and as he does he finds that his mind is clouded, hazy, and he is unable at first to pay any attention or detail to his surroundings.

He hasn't questioned why he is here or where his family is, or where Maggie is.

Those questions don't enter his mind because his mind is empty. It is blurry and uncertain, with no questions, no thoughts and no memories.

He thinks of nothing until his left eye begins to twitch.

He stays frozen and dazed as a small, slimy bug begins to crawl out of his eye lid.

It moves down to his cheek and as it does he stares at it with a look of fear and confusion.

But he doesn't act. He doesn't move.

Hal doesn't move because he can't. He doesn't attempt to hit the bug, or remove it from his face, because he can't.

He finds that he is still frozen, still unable to move or do anything but watch it as it crawls down his cheek and moves towards his ear and even then, even when he knows what will happen next, he remains powerless, unable to do anything but watch as it enters his ear.

It crawls inside his ear, moving deeper inside of Hal and inside of his brain.

He closes his eyes as it does, feeling a small surge overcome his mind as he does.

And then he feels nothing.

Hal Mason feels nothing, thinks nothing, and does nothing for the next seconds which pass.

His eyes open slowly and he continues to watch himself in the mirror, watching his reflection as though it is a stranger, an unfamiliar face, and then he smiles at himself.

The smile only rests on his face for a flickering second before it vanishes entirely and Hal is left staring in to the eyes of a stranger.

He reaches for the light, switching it off and allowing the darkness to return to the room, before he steps away from the mirror and returns to his bed.

But as he steps towards the bed, his eyes gazing down upon his own feet as he walks, his gaze becomes blurry, his feet unsteady, and his breathing becomes heavier.

He reaches out for the bed but misses it, tumbling forward.

He falls, slumping down onto his knees, and hits the ground harshly.

The right side of his face hits the ground first, receiving most of the impact.

He lies on the ground for a moment, his face stinging with the comings of a future bruise, before his eyes flicker between being opened or closed, like he is uncertain of whether he should keep them shut or closed.

The decision is almost made for him, it is almost made against his will.

It's like he has no strength, no say, no fight as to what happens next.

His eyes close tightly and in seconds he fades away to nothingness, to loneliness, to darkness.

But he isn't as alone as he believes.

Maggie finds his body.

She enters his room only seconds after he collapsed on the floor.

Hal is still and unmoving on the cold ground, and this sight deepens her fears, reignites her pain, and causes her to feel all the emotions she'd previously shut down and locked away when she first looked upon his unconscious body after the warehouse.

She shouldn't be back here after what they just witnessed with the arrival of the new aliens but Maggie doesn't have the time to process that right now, she doesn't want to process that right now.

She should care about these new aliens, about what they mean for Earth and what they mean for their war against the Espheni and Skitters, but Maggie doesn't care about them as much as she cares about him.

She can't bring herself to care about anything but the unconscious body of her partner.

Maggie drops to Hal's side, strapping her weapon to her body as she does this. She turns him over, rolling himon to his back. His eyes are closed, his lips slightly parted, his skin pale and almost translucent. He appears almost peaceful but she knows that he isn't.

She shakes him, carefully as she does not want to cause him further pain or discomfort.

He still doesn't wake.

She tries again and gentle nudges his shoulders as she whispers his name. She checks for a pulse, her fingers press against his neck, and much to her relief she finds one.

She exhales heavily now as a wave of relief rushes over her; he's still alive.

She checks him over quickly for any noticeable wounds or injuries but she finds none. She doesn't understand how he came to be here, lying collapsed on the floor, and this causes her great concern.

Maggie pauses.

She wants to leave to get Lourdes or Anne for help but she doesn't want to leave Hal because she's worried about what could happen to him if she leaves him alone again.

She should never have left in the first place.

She should have stayed by his side as he would have stayed by hers.

She decides upon leaving Hal, as much as it worries her, because she needs to get help.

But as she begins to move, to pull away, his eyes flutter.

She almost freezes.

"Hal?" Maggie calls out, a little more loudly than she'd intended to.

Her hands fall down to his cheeks.

"Hal?" she repeats.

His eyes still flicker for a moment as he stirs; he shifts on the concrete, moving so that he is in a less awkward and less painful position.

His eyes open finally, the swirling brown colour darts over the room before locking with the soft, hazel brown of Maggie's eyes.

"Hal?" Maggie repeats, as she moves her hands down towards his chest.

Hal frowns slightly as he begins to attempt to move but Maggie doesn't let him and instead forces him to remain where he lies on the ground.

"Can you hear me?" she asks, a deep frown now set on her tired features.

"Maggie," he murmurs.

"How did..." Hal begins but stops, suddenly falling silent.

He lifts his hand to his head, rubbing it gently.

"I don't..." he mutters.

Maggie draws in a breath.

"Can you hear me?" she repeats.

Hal nods once.

"Yes." he answers finally.

She shifts back slightly, allowing him to move so that he is sitting rather than lying on the cold ground. She pauses before she stands, placing her arm underneath his and assisting him in standing.

"How are you feeling?" she asks.

Maggie directs Hal towards his bed. He rests against the edge of it, sitting down slightly. The frown remains set on his features. He rubs the back of his neck before lowering his hands to his side.

He doesn't remember.

He doesn't know why he is here, why Maggie is looking at him the way she is, and where they are.

"Where are we...?" Hal asks.

"Charleston," Maggie replies, quickly. "How are you feeling?" she repeats.

Hal shifts in his stance slightly, repositioning his feet.

"I, uh, yeah. I'm fine. I'm fine, Maggie." he murmurs, shifting his eyes towards her.

His eyes widen slowly as fragments slowly begin to come back to him.

And it does come back to Hal, in distorted, fast, blurry flashes which he only catches sections of but he still remembers parts and that's all that matters right now.

"The warehouse." he states, saying nothing else.

She nods.

"I'm going to get Anne, or Lourdes." Maggie states.

"Stay here." she adds, a tone of hesitation in her voice.

Hal draws in a long breath of air before sighing, loudly.

"Okay." he answers, closing his eyes briefly.

"I'll stay here." he murmurs, still with his eyes firmly closed.

Maggie returns minutes later to find Hal resting on the side of his bed with his legs dangling off of the edge.

He stayed put like he told her he would.

He stands when he catches sight of Anne and Maggie entering, both of whom are wearing similar mixed expressions on their features.

Expressions of worry and concern.

Anne smiles at Hal.

"Hal, it's good to see you up." Anne says.

Despite the small smile that rests on Anne's face, and her enthusiastic and friendly tone, she seems tired and stressed out.

Hal manages a small smile back.

"Good to be back." he comments.

He slyly glances towards Maggie, who stands a few feet away from Anne. Her arms are crossed, her expression is impassive but not hardened or cold. She seems worried, pained even, but he won't speak to her about this until they are alone.

"How are you feeling?" Anne questions.

"Fine," Hal answers, honestly. "Just a little tired, a headache. And my neck hurts a bit.." he adds.

"You were unconscious for an entire day, Hal." Anne states, glancing briefly towards Maggie.

What Hal doesn't know is that so much happened in this single day that he was absent from.

"When I found him, he was on the floor." Maggie states, informing Anne of this as she finds it quite strange that Hal rolled off of the bed.

"Do you remember how that happened, Hal?" Anne asks, with a slight concern in her eyes.

Hal shakes his head.

"No." he answers, honestly.

Anne pauses.

"What do you remember?" Anne asks.

"I remember..." Hal begins, softly.

Hal remembers entering the warehouse, they were attacked by the skitters. He recalls someone yelling out, alerting them that there were enemy skitters, but apart from this he doesn't remember anything else.

"Just entering the warehouse." Hal replies.

Maggie stays silent, keeping her arms folded.

Her expression remains shielded, her eyes flicker over Hal frequently but she otherwise remains silent.

Anne makes a few small comments, now and then, and after she has tended to Hal and checked him over, once she is certain that there is nothing wrong with him, she leaves the two of them alone.

They won't be alone for too long, Maggie knows this.

Maggie steps towards Hal, sighing softly, and with no hesitation she wraps her arms around his neck and she holds him. She holds him because she almost lost him, because he could have died. She holds him because she needs this and she needs him.

"Hey..." Hal murmurs, in Maggie's ear.

He sets his hands around her waist, pulling her closer towards him. He holds her because he needs her and he always will, because he wants to comfort her, because he wants to hold her.

"Hey," he repeats. "What is this? What's wrong?" he asks.

Maggie keeps her arms firmly around his neck.

She holds him for a moment longer before she, reluctantly, pulls away.

"Let's just say that I came to realisation." she states.

Hal smiles.

"Oh, yeah, what was this?" he asks.

She tilts her head to the side.

"A private realisation." she says, smiling slightly.

Hal laughs, dryly.

"Private? Come on, Maggie. We don't have secrets." he states, despite that he believes otherwise.

There are things which he believes Maggie has kept from him; her last name, her past, how she met Pope, how she came to be as guarded as she is. He doesn't expect her to share these secrets with him, he knows that these secrets must trouble her and that she must fight with them constantly and he doesn't wish to cause her to relive the pain he is sure accompanies them.

Her smile falters.

"I just...I realised I don't want to lose you." she says, finally, speaking slowly and almost purposefully avoiding his gaze.

She expects him to joke, to tease her, to say something smart but he doesn't.

"You won't." he replies, sounding so sure that she won't lose him.

She manages a small smile. "Hal..." she sighs.

"You won't." he repeats.

And then, the smirk appears.

"So, I guess it takes us both nearly dying to realise that we don't want to lose each other?" Hal asks. "Pretty stupid, huh?"

She smiles. "Yeah. I guess so."

"Let's not do that again?" he grins.

Her smile remains. "Sounds good to me."

* * *

When Tom checks in on Hal he finds Maggie standing by his side.

She leaves, seconds after Tom enters, stating that she has a shift but she really leaves so that Tom and Hal can have a moment alone because they need it.

Tom embraces Hal tightly as he nears him.

He wraps his arms around his son and pulls him in to his chest.

They hold each other tightly for a moment before lowering their arms and taking slight steps back.

"You gave us all a fright." Tom murmurs.

Hal manages a small smile.

"Anne says you woke up on the floor?" Tom asks, watching Hal with a deep, obvious concern.

"Yeah," Hal replies, scratching at his forehead.

"I did. I mean...I just – I just opened my eyes and Maggie was there." he admits. "I don't know what happened."

Hal pauses, drawing in a slight breath of air.

"So, you're feeling okay?" Tom asks.

"Fine, Dad." Hal smiles.

"So, what'd I miss?" Hal asks. "I don't...I'm just – Doctor Glass said my memory might be...lacking, for now, because of the concussion. I don't remember the warehouse..." he admits.

Tom shifts in his stance, clearly nervous and troubled. He sighs, loudly, as he runs his hands over his face.

He takes a step closer to Hal, silently preparing himself for how he will tell Hal about all that has happened in one day.

"When you were sleeping..." Tom begins.

"What?" Hal asks.

A frown sets on Hal's features as a look of worry enters his eyes.

"What's wrong, dad? Is Ben okay?" Hal asks, clearly panicked.

"Ben's fine." Tom answers, quickly and reassuringly. "Do you remember the tower, in the warehouse, Hal?"

Hal nods once.

"What about it?" Hal asks, almost warily.

"We blew it up, knocked it down." Tom states.

"I don't remember..." Hal murmurs, closing his eyes for the briefest second.

He reopens them to find his father watching him with a more troubled expression set on his face.

He sees now how tired and stressed Tom appears to be.

"It turns out...The tower was like...a shield, a forcefield blocking out incoming ships, planes..." Tom murmurs.

He is still having some trouble processing the addition of this new species.

"Aliens." Tom adds.

Hal's expression shifts noticeably but his eyes don't widen, he doesn't appear shocked or stunned, instead he seems maddened by this.

"More Espheni?" Hal asks.

Tom hesitates and it is this silent moment of hesitation that gives Hal ab answer – the aliens that came down weren't Espheni.

"Not Espheni? Not skitters?" Hal asks, his voice much more strained, his eyes much more hollow and filled with more fear.

Tom presses his lips tightly together until the colour fades from them.

He sighs, loudly, before he takes a slight step towards Hal.

"Dad?" Hal says.

Tom states, loudly, "They're called the Etranya."

Hal's next words come out quickly, they are jumbled and messy. "The- what – I don't..." he begins.

"It's okay, Hal. It's okay." Tom says, softly. "I understand that it's overwhelming." he says, soothingly.

"It's not overwhelming, it's not, dad. It's-" Hal pauses, drawing in a long breath as he begins to pace. "It's frustrating." he murmurs. "We let them in. WE-we..." he sighs, unable to finish his words.

"It's okay, Hal." Tom repeats, soothingly, resting his hand against Hal's right shoulder.

Hal wears a disbelieving expression on his face.

"How is it okay?" he asks. "New aliens? I mean, that's what we just need. More of them." he mutters, angrily.

"So far, we think they come in peace." Tom announces, honestly.

The Etranya, after landing, had searched for a host to speak to and were able to make a connection with Ben, thus they spoke through him. They had spoken to the humans, introducing themselves as The Etranya from Etrikan, and had informed them that they wished to speak with them but gave them two days to consider this offer.

"So far? It's been, what, one day?" Hal asks. "How could you know that? Don't tell me, they told you?" he asks, his voice unintentionally rising and become louder.

Tom stays silent.

Hal smirks, but this is not a smile of happiness but rather complete and absolute disbelief.

"You've got to be kidding?!" he almost shouts.

Tom shakes his head, once, as he replies, calmly, "They're not from Eleedium, like the skitters were. But, they were able to speak...Through Ben, just like the skitters could.."

Hal's body noticeably tenses up.

His voice rises as he asks, "You let them near Ben?!"

"Hal, just-" Tom begins.

"Don't tell me to calm down, dad. Don't. The Espehni used Ben, to speak to you. Not just the skitters. So these new ones – they must have some connection, some similarities if they can use Ben...They can't-You let him near them." Hal answers; he speaks quickly, loudly, and with a more panicked tone.

Tom sighs.

"Look, Hal, I don't- I don't have a lot of time to explain this to you." Tom softly says.

"Why?" Hal frowns. "Where are you going?"

Tom pauses before he answers, "I've got a meeting with Arthur Manchester."

"Why?" Hal replies, quickly. "I thought we were leaving Charleston?"

"We can't, not yet. They don't – For now, it's best we stay." Tom answers, truthfully.

"Where are they, now?" Hal asks. "The new aliens?" he adds.

"They said they'd give us time, two days, and then they'd return." Tom replies, quickly.

Hal can't hide his disbelief.

"You're going to meet with them in two days, then?" he asks, his frown deepening as he speaks.

Tom sighs, running his hands over his face.

"We don't have much of a choice, Hal, we don't. We just have to deal with what we have and move on from there. All we can do is move forward." Tom states.

Hal simply nods, his jaw remaining tightly clenched together.

"Hal," Tom murmurs, softly. "There's...There's something else." he says, watching Hal closely, carefully, and with a pained expression on his face.

Hal meets his father's gaze instantly, a small flicker of fear forming in his eyes.

"What?" Hal asks, finally, after a minute of silence passes the two of them.

Tom is reluctant and struggling.

They lost one of their own, they lost Dai at the warehouse, and this loss is still so fresh, so painful, and so unreal to Tom. Dai was a great man, a hell of a fighter, and a good friend to all.

Tom was close to Dai but he knows that Dai and Hal treated each other like brothers, best friends, and he worries that Hal does not remember his death as he hasn't spoken of it.

"You said you remembered the warehouse," Tom begins, attempting to step around the sad and painful truth.

"What do you remember?" Tom asks.

"I remember the wall being blown up," Hal admits. "And a voice shouting out that there were skitters...Why?" he asks, warily, the fear returning to his eyes.

Tom begins, softly, "We lost..."

"What?" Hal asks.

Then, Hal understands that they did not lose something but rather someone.

"Who?" he asks.

Hal's voice cracks as he speaks, he becomes far less impassive and more vulnerable.

"Ben?" Hal asks, the pain slipping through.

Tom shakes his head, his face wearing a much sadder expression.

"The Captain?" Hal questions.

Tom shakes his head once more.

His lips part, he begins to speak, but he falls silent as a single word passes Hal's lips.

"Dai?" Hal asks.

Tom swallows tightly, his grip on Hal's shoulder tightens.

"His body was..." Tom begins, softly.

"Dai?" Hal repeats, loudly.

"He can't." Hal shakes his head, quickly, speaking loudly and firmly. "He can't. He was...He was...".

"Dai was killed by a skitter." Tom says, lowly. "When we got him back here, there was nothing Anne could do. His neck was broken. His head was.. The impact killed him." he says.

"Why-You're not...Dai's not dead. He blew up the wall, and he..." Hal answers; his voice begins as confident but quickly shifts in to a much lower, dejected tone.

"Hal, I'm sorry." Tom says, softly, his grip tightening on Hal's shoulder.

For a moment, Hal allows his father's hand to rest on his shoulder.

But it's only a moment, and moments always pass too quickly, before he pulls away from his father.

"Hal..." Tom murmurs. "There was nothing we could do to save him." he says, honestly but sadly.

Hal nods, his lips pressed tightly together.

He steps back, away from his father, before he finally speaks.

"You should go." he says. "Your meeting." Hal adds.

"Hal, I'm not..." Tom begins. "I'm not leaving you." he says, because he doesn't want to leave his son after placing this grief on his shoulders.

"I'm tired, dad." Hal lies. "And you have your meeting, you should...You should go." he says, slowly meeting Tom's gaze as he speaks.

Tom leaves, not because he wants to or he has to but because Hal wants him to. Hal wants to sleep, he needs to sleep, so for now Tom will leave Hal to sleep, and he hopes he finds it peacefully and with ease.

* * *

Hal tries to sleep so that he may find some form of escape but sleep does not come to him at all. His headache stays with him, becoming worse by the second. He longs to sleep, to rest, but finds that his body does not wish to rest or does not desire it.

He glances up towards the doorway to find Maggie entering, her face clouded and deeply shielded.

"Hal..." she begins, softly, pausing only as she releases a long sigh.

"I know." he states.

The coldness in his voice, the harshness of it, almost surprises Maggie but she understands this, she understands why he is cold with her and harsh – Dai is dead, and she kept it from him, she didn't tell him immediately because she wanted to protect him.

"I know." he repeats.

"But what I don't know, what I don't get, is why you would try to hide it from me?" he asks accusingly.

She frowns.

"I wasn't, Hal. I was just...You just woke up. I didn't know..." she murmurs.

He nods once, like he suddenly understands her reasons for doing so.

"It's okay." he sighs, lifting his hands to his face and running them over his creased forehead.

"It's okay." he repeats, but those words are more muffled as he keeps his hands to his face.

When he finally lowers his hands back to his side he finds that she has stepped towards him. She seems hesitant at first but soon forgets all previous doubts and hesitation as she steps closer.

She moves inwards, so that she may reach him, and takes both of his hands.

"I'm sorry, Hal." she whispers, soothingly, kindly, and softly as she continues to hold his hands.

He presses his lips together as he focuses his eyes on her hands which hold his.

"There was nothing..." she begins.

"Nothing anyone could do," Hal states, speaking as Maggie trails off. "There's nothing we can ever do. We're helpless, useless, pointless..." he murmurs.

She shakes her head once.

"We aren't helpless, or useless, Hal." Maggie replies, quickly. "The warehouse...It turned bad, quickly, we were unprepared...They were bad circumstances, but we couldn't have prevented them." she adds.

"We were greedy," Hal murmurs. "Taking our shot to remove the Espheni, regardless of the consequences. And Charleston? The trained soldiers? Where were they?" Hal asks, getting angrier with each word that passes his lips.

"Cowering underground!" he shouts.

"They were cowards who could have acted, who could have saved Dai's life, but instead they chose their side. And we chose ours, we chose the rebels, but we're still here – Why are we still here, in Charleston, Maggie? Why?" he asks, shaking his head as he speaks, the veins on his neck throbbing with anger.

Maggie pauses.

"Did you meet with Tom?" she asks, finally.

Hal sighs, loudly.

"Yes. He, uh...He told me about the new aliens, the ones we are responsible for." Hal states, his eyes filled with such disbelief at the news of new aliens.

Maggie frowns.

"What else..." she begins.

Hal, loudly but unintentionally, cuts her off.

"What else is there, Maggie?" he asks.

Maggie states, simply, cryptically, "He's in talks."

"Who is? My dad?" Hal asks, his frown deepening.

"Yeah..." she sighs.

Hal hesitates. "With who?" he asks.

"Manchester." Maggie states, finally.

"They're considering Tom for presidency, if we stay in Charleston. He has experience with the aliens." she adds, with a slightly lower and cautious tone.

"Experience?" Hal asks, raising his voice much louder than he'd intended to.

"He was tortured by them, he doesn't have experience dealing with aliens." he states angrily, as he begins to pace.

He pauses as he glances back towards Maggie.

"Has he accepted?" he asks.

"They haven't offered officially, but they want him here regardless." Maggie replies.

Hal sighs loudly, clearly annoyed.

"So, they can keep an eye on him while he keeps an eye on the aliens?" he asks.

She simply nods.

"Hal..." she murmurs finally, as he releases her hands from his.

He doesn't hesitate, he doesn't respond, as he pulls her towards him so that they may hold each other; he wraps his arms around her waist, she places hers around his neck slowly, and they step closer so that they are as close as is possible.

"I'm sorry..." she whispers.

She's sorry she didn't tell him these things earlier when she woke.

He shakes his head, pulling his hands away from her waist.

He places his right hand to her cheek, smiling softly.

"I'm glad you're okay." he states, his voice barely above a whisper.

Maggie smiles at his touch; it is a soft, small, but warm smile.

"You should rest," she suggests, taking a slight step backwards. "I need my partner back out there." she adds.

He smiles at these words.

"Need someone looking over those feet of yours." he comments.

She shakes her head, once, knowing full well that Hal is the one who scrapes his feet.

She leaves him slowly, reluctantly, and with a clear hesitation in her eyes.

He needs to rest, he needs to sleep, and she will return to him in a few hours to check in on him.

What she is unaware of is that he can't sleep, he doesn't want to.

Hal tries to sleep, his body needs to sleep, but his mind doesn't want to.

His eyes stay open, even when he tries to force them to close.

He doesn't like the darkness of the room but he does nothing to bring more light in to the room, he doesn't move from where he rests with his back flat against the long bed.

He simply stares up at the roof, feeling oddly numb.

But he isn't entirely aware of the numbness. He doesn't acknowledge it, he doesn't think about it, he doesn't care for it.

He counts the markings on the ceilings, which his eyes flicker over. When he loses count, he starts again until he becomes frustrated and stops.

He releases a deep sigh and lifts his hands up to his face; he runs them over his face, down his cheeks, to his neck, and then sets them down by his side. His eyes briefly close, and he thinks sleep may take him, but they flicker open in seconds.

Hal ceases feeling numb, it passes as a feeling of pain begins to slowly slip in to his bones.

His headache had passed for only a moment or two and it had returned all too quickly, too suddenly, for Hal to truly appreciate how he felt in it's absence.

He pulls his body up slowly, releasing a loud groan as he does.

He repositions his body so that he is sitting on the edge of his bed, his feet dangling off of the edge.

He glances up to find a figure standing in the doorway.

Hal frowns.

"Ben?" he calls out.

Ben steps forward.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." he states.

Hal sighs, as he slowly moves to stand up.

He lowers himself down so he's standing.

"You didn't." Hal answers, quickly.

"How are you feeling?" Ben asks.

"I'm fine. I'm feeling fine." Hal replies, vaguely.

"Good, good." Ben nods, once. "It's good to see you up and moving again." he says.

Hal nods simply.

"Good to be up." he answers, finally.

The air between the two brothers is tense.

"Hal..." Ben begins.

"Don't tell me, more aliens?" Hal asks.

Ben's frown deepens.

"What..." he begins.

"Dad's considering presidency, in Charleston?" Hal questions, tilting his head slightly to the side.

He expects a reaction from Ben but instead he remains impassive.

"Or Dai is dead?" he asks. "Which one did you come to tell me?" Hal asks.

He pauses slightly so that he may draw in a long and shaky breath of air.

"I hope there's nothing else I missed, nothing else that's being kept from me." Hal sharply says.

"There's not." Ben answers, honestly.

Ben pauses.

"Hal..." he begins, softly.

"Don't." Hal says, firmly. "Don't say it." he says.

But Ben still speaks.

"I'm sorry about Dai." Ben says. "I know you two were close." he adds.

Hal shakes his head.

"Don't stand there and apologise for something that wasn't your fault." Hal counters.

"What do you want me to do then, Hal?" Ben asks.

Hal draws in a long breath of air.

"Where is he?" Hal asks.

Ben remains silent, uncertain of who it is Hal is speaking of.

"Dai," Hal states. "Where is his body?" he asks.

Ben stiffens up.

"Hal..." Ben murmurs. "You don't.." he begins.

"Where is his body, Ben?" Hal snaps, sounding impatient.

Ben stays still.

"I know what I want, Ben." Hal answers, sharply. "I want to see him, so either you tell me where his body is or I'll find him myself." he says.

Ben remains reluctant.

"I'm going, with or without you." Hal announces.

Ben doesn't respond immediately.

"You're either with me or you're not. It's simple, Ben." Hal sighs.

Ben nods once.

"I'm with you." he answers.

Ben leads Hal out from the med room he was placed in, after he was carried in from the warehouse, and down a small corridor.

As they near it, Ben glances up to find Anne walking down towards them.

"Hal?" Anne calls out, as her eyes flicker over the two of them.

She frowns deeply.

"What are you doing up?" she asks.

The two brothers stop walking simultaneously.

Ben opens his mouth to explain but stops as Hal speaks.

"I felt like taking a walk." Hal lies.

Anne's frown remains.

"You should be resting, Hal." she says.

He shakes his head once.

"You said it yourself, nothing is wrong with me." Hal comments.

Anne sighs softly.

"Yes but you were unconscious for a day," Anne quickly replies. "You need to rest and we still need to keep an eye on you to make sure that you're fine." she says.

"I feel fine." Hal insists, despite that his head continues to throb with pain.

"I know you do now, but that might change later." Anne says, softly.

"If it does, I'll come back." Hal replies, quickly. "But I doubt it. I feel great." he lies.

"Hal..." she sighs.

"Thanks, Doctor Glass." Hal says, loudly.

And then he silently turns towards Ben and nods, indicating that he wants to continue moving towards Dai's room. Ben leads Hal there, despite that he'd rather not, despite that he'd rather see Hal resting, but he doesn't say anything.

As they reach the closed door Ben stops and sighs, his way of silently telling Hal that this is the room.

Hal purposefully avoids Ben's intent gaze.

"I'll be fine from here." Hal says, because he doesn't want Ben to follow him inside.

And Ben doesn't follow Hal inside, he wouldn't, instead he leaves Hal.

He walks away because Hal doesn't want him there, he doesn't need him there, and Ben doesn't want to be there. Ben wants to give Hal his time to say goodbye, so he leaves him alone in darkness with death.

Hal enters the room slowly, taking small and hesitant steps. His feet feel heavy, like each footstep is heavier and harder than the previous.

He almost forgets to breathe as he walks inside, and as he does he almost allows himself to believe that Dai will be awake.

But he isn't, he won't wake again.

His body has been placed down on the bed; his hands rest straight by his side, his hair has been brushed back, his wounds have been tended to but with no success. His skin wears dark bruises, his skin is pale, and almost grey, and it is sickly and it causes Hal to halt.

He bites down on his bottom lip tightly as he takes what feels like the most difficult step so far forward.

Hal wants to look away but he can't.

He is tempted to touch Dai's shoulder, and cause him to wake, but he doesn't because it's pointless.

Still, as he stands before his friends body, it doesn't truly sink in that he is gone.

Hal's lips part, he sighs softly, but he sheds no tears because he doesn't feel anything except a numbness.

Hal feels empty, numb, shallow and hollow.

This doesn't feel real.

Hal doesn't want it to feel real, he doesn't want Dai to be dead, so he falls quickly into a painless denial.

His eyes move slowly towards a small table resting beside the bed, on which Dai's belongings have been placed on. He lowers his eyes over them until he spots a pair of black, fingerless, leather gloves. Hal picks them up from the pile and holds them for a moment before he slides them on to his own hands.

He closes his eyes slowly and inhales a sharper, tighter breath of air before he turns away.

He turns away from Dai's body with his eyes tightly closed and he only opens them once he is certain he has his back to his friend.

And then, Hal walks away.

He walks away because his feet lead him away, and he feels like he has little control over where they want to take him.

He leaves because there is nothing left keeping him here.

* * *

**A/N:** **Hi, all.**

**So, this is my new Falling Skies story. It isn't related to my ongoing story, Safe and Sound, in any way. It's completely new, and as you will know after reading this chapter it picks up after the Season 2 finale. I didn't plan to write two Falling Skies stories at once but it sort of just happened, and so here it is. I hope you enjoy reading it.**

**The introduction of the new aliens in this story, The Etranyan's from Etrikan, were my own creation and when they do appear in one of the coming chapters I will (hopefully) be able to describe them to you in enough detail that you'll understand what it is they look like. I've got a lot of ideas about where I'm going to take this new species and how they'll factor into with the humans, the Espheni and the skitters.**

**This story will be my own interpretation of what I thought happened in the 7 months before Season three, as well as bringing in certain aspects of Season 3 (like Hal being bugged by Karen the Overlord, the interaction of the aliens and etc. but I don't want to spoil too much so I won't say too much)**

**I hope you enjoyed reading this.**

**Thanks.**

**X**

_For Emma._


	2. New days to come

**Disclaimer: Falling skies; is copyright to TNT. All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement is intended, and no money is being made. I claim nothing and own nothing but the laptop I wrote this on, any OC's I have or will include and the storyline (the parts I created of the storyline).**

* * *

The air is unwelcoming and cold as Maggie returns to her room.

As she returns she finds that her room is, with the exception of a single lamp by her beside which has been lit, entirely submerged in darkness.

When she steps inside her room, she finds Hal resting on the edge of her bed.

He sits on the very edge of her single bed with his head in his hands, his elbows resting on his knees, and his eyes closed.

At first, Hal was unsure of how to find Maggie's room because his surroundings felt new to him, they felt confusing and he remained in a state of uncertainty.

In the beginning, after he'd left Dai's room, he didn't remember what path to follow to his room, or which door he should take to get there. Hal didn't know how to find her until he found himself outside of a room which he believed was hers, as it was the only room that lit a flicker of familiarity inside of his mind.

He'd entered her room, which was small and held only a single-bed and a bedside table, to find emptiness.

After he'd spent a few moments searching the room for any objects which he may identify as hers, so he may know with certainty that it was Maggie's room, he'd come to a sudden realisation that she was _Maggie_ and so it was highly unlikely she would have any personal belongings in her room and if she had any at all they were more likely to be on her.

He waited for her in silence and darkness, only lighting the lamp as the darkness spread through the room and threatened to take him.

He waited for her to return to him and she did, she found him like she always did.

He lifts his head from his hands, places his hands by his sides, and looks up towards the doorway.

He finds her, her hands by her side, her golden hair out, dressed in a long sleeved black shirt and brown pants with her combat boots on.

Hal is more than relieved to see Maggie, more than relieved that she has found him, this much is evident from the small smile which appears on his features as he catches sight of her.

However, Maggie looks less relieved, less pleased, to find Hal here in her bedroom because she doesn't believe he should be up, she believes he should be resting.

"What are you doing up?" she asks, quickly, closing the door behind her.

"Doctor Glass cleared me." he lies.

She takes a few steps towards him.

"Did she?" Maggie asks.

Hal nods, holding her uncertain gaze.

"She did. I'm fine." he answers.

Maggie pauses slightly as she draws in a tiny breath of air.

"What are you doing here?" she asks.

A frown flickers on his face.

"I don't..." he begins.

"I just came back from a shift in the kitchens." she answers.

Hal is uncertain of how or why his feet led him here, but he doesn't let this confusion on to Maggie.

"I know." he lies, again.

She frowns, deeper.

"You knew?" she asks.

"Yeah, Ben knew you were on shift." he says. "He told me, I wanted to be here when you came back." he lies.

Hal wanted to find Maggie, to be with her, because he felt lonely.

Maggie seems to believe this, this is indicated by the slight nod of her head.

"Why?" she asks, finally.

"Why what?" Hal frowns slightly.

"Why did you want to be here when I came back?" she asks.

Hal hesitates.

"I wanted to see you." he honestly answers.

She nods once more.

"How was your shift?" Hal asks.

Maggie takes a step closer towards Hal.

"Fine," she replies. "I was just coming to check on you, see how you were doing." she admits.

"I'm fine." he insists quickly, with a small but reassuring smile.

"Good," Maggie replies. "Because, I'll need my partner our there when we start patrols back up." she says.

Hal's smile falters.

"I mean, if." Maggie quickly corrects herself. "Nothing's been decided yet, about whether we're staying in Charleston."

Hal nods as he tightly presses his lips together.

He stands slowly from the edge of the single bed, his eyes firmly set on the ground beneath his feet like if he looks away, if he glances away for even a second the ground will shatter and swallow him up.

"Hal..." she says his name with softness.

"What do you think?" he asks. "About staying in Charleston...What do you think?" he says, eyes still focused on the ground.

She hesitates.

"I don't know, Hal." she answers truthfully.

"They're cowards, Maggie." Hal sharply states.

He looks away from the ground finally and meets her gaze.

"They should've come to our aid but they failed to. We shouldn't be here and my Dad, he shouldn't be considering presidency." he says.

His tone is vehement, clearly filled with such anger towards those in Charleston he believes are cowards, those he deems responsible for Dai's death.

"Hey," she says, watching him carefully.

His chest heaves heavily, he appears agitated and worn down.

"They failed us," she says. "But we did everything we could."

Hal is disbelieving but he doesn't say otherwise, he remains silent.

"Have you seen your brothers?" Maggie asks, allowing a moment to pass between them.

"Only Ben." Hal replies, his voice quickly softening.

"Okay," Maggie nods. "So before you go visit Matt you need to tell me why you're really here."

She knows Hal, better than she ever believed she could know someone, so she is easily able to tell when he is telling her the truth and when he is lying to her.

And he is lying to her now.

"Ben didn't know I had a shift. I swapped with Anthony at the last minute. He's the only person who knew." Maggie states.

He stiffens up but doesn't speak.

"Don't lie to me, Hal." she says.

He shakes his head once.

"I'm not lying." he counters.

"What are you doing here, then? Really?" she asks.

Hal sighs heavily and lifts his hands up to his head.

He runs his hands over his face, through his hair, down to the back of his neck before he drops them to his side.

"I'm sick, Maggie. I'm sick of being alone. I'm tired, and I'm sick of being alone." he admits, in a moment of soft vulnerability. "And I feel sick when I think of what – I don't remember how it happened, Maggie. I was in there,with Dai's body and I didn't remember a thing." Hal painfully admits.

She watches him silently.

"Please, don't look at me like that." he sighs.

"Like what?" she asks.

"Like you pity me." he says sharply.

"I don't, Hal." she quickly assures him. "I don't pity you. I'd never look at you like that."

He believes her words, this is indicated by the single nod of his head.

"You went to see his body...?" Maggie asks, hesitantly.

They share a silent look and without words she knows he went to see Dai's body.

"You?" he asks finally, with a dry throat.

Maggie nods once.

"He was a good man-" Maggie begins.

"Please, don't, Maggie." Hal says, almost pleading with her to not continue with her words.

"I'm just...I'm tired. I'm sick of being alone." he repeats, almost like he forgot he said those words seconds earlier. "And I'm sick of talking about _that_."

"Okay." she says. "So, sleep." she suggests.

He seems reluctant.

"I'll stay with you." Maggie says.

Those words almost surprise Hal, but he doesn't say anything because he doesn't want to risk the chance of pushing her away.

They haven't been _this_ close before; in the car, they were close, but this is different.

The only similarities between this time, and the time in the car, is that fear pulled them together. They held each other when they were fearful of the mechs, and now they are together because they almost lost each other, Hal almost died.

Hal sits down on the edge of the single bed first, before he slides up and lays down so he's lying flat on his back.

She seems like she's in her own world for a second before she speaks.

"I don't think we'll both fit."

He smiles sweetly.

"There's no harm in trying." he says, with a much lower voice.

She sighs and pauses before she removes her guns, placing them on the table with the lamps.

Then, she sits down on the edge of the bed.

Her body appears stiff, all the muscles seem tightened, and for a second she doesn't move. Maggie seems almost oblivious to Hal's constant gaze. She moves after a minute, laying down on her side so that she's facing Hal.

Their heads rest on the same pillow, their bodies lay _almost_ pressed together, their hands stay by their sides.

They could be close, they could be much closer, if they would only let each other in.

She wants to let him in; she almost lost him, he could have died, and almost losing Hal Mason made her realise how much she does care for him and how lost, how destroyed, she would be without him.

"Want me to move?" Hal asks.

He's still lying on his back, so he's taking up most of the bed.

"No." she replies, with no hesitation.

She shifts her body so that she's lying against his chest like she was in the car but this is different. She feels closer to Hal now, and he feels closer to her. She places her left hand on his chest, the other rests by her side, and she lifts her gaze to him.

"You won't be." she says.

The tiniest beginnings of a frown threaten to form on his features.

"Alone." she adds.

Hal Mason will never be alone as long as she is still living.

He smiles at her, his eyes seem to light up as he does.

Hal lowers his right hand to her side, slowly inching it down so he may place it on her waist. He sets it down on her waist gingerly. Then he pulls her closer, if being any closer is possible, and allows her to rest her head against his chest.

"I thought I lost you." she admits, her head almost buried in his chest.

The pain which she felt, which almost consumed her, at the very thought of losing him is clear in her voice.

He seems to hold her closer now, tighter, like he wants to be closer, has to be, like he needs to be as close as he can to her.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily." he comments.

She smiles, keeping her head against his chest.

"I like the sound of that." she admits.

She can hear Hal's voice becoming drowsier, his words becoming slower, and as she quickly looks up she can see that he's fighting to keep his eyes open.

She smiles at how sweet he looks.

"Do you?" he smiles, with half shut eyes.

"Go to sleep." she smiles, placing her head back against his chest.

"I'll be here when you wake." she whispers soothingly, as her grip around his chest tightens.

Hal doesn't answer because he's already peacefully falling asleep and as he feels himself drifting off he holds her closer, tighter, as a small part inside fears that when he wakes she won't be here and he will wake alone again.

* * *

It starts with an ache; a numb, pounding, ache in Hal's head which soon shifts and becomes significantly stronger.

He doesn't feel numb as it passes through his body.

Hal is in pain, he feels a throbbing and constant ache which wakes him from his rest.

He wakes to a dimly lit room and finds Maggie resting with her eyes shut,beside him. Her golden curls have fallen down by her side, her lips are parted slightly, the blanket has slipped off of her body and he now notices that it mostly covers him, that it has purposefully been placed this way, and so he believes Maggie covered him with this blanket.

Hal manages a small smile.

The pain flickers away briefly as he continues to watch her.

He lifts the blanket off of himself and sets it down over her body so carefully, and so slowly, so he will not wake her. He does this with success, and after he has covered her with the warm blanket, he lifts his hand to her forehead and pushes a strand of hair off of her face and tucks it gently behind her ear.

She doesn't stir.

The pain returns.

Hal shuts his eyes tightly, presses his lips tightly together, and clenches his hands into fists by his side.

"Hal?" she says.

Her voice breaks into the darkness.

The pain falters, he returns to her.

"Morning." he smiles, his eyes opening slowly and settling down upon her.

She wears the tiniest beginnings of a frown on her face.

"Is everything okay?" she asks.

His smile remains. "I'm good."

A small smile breaks out on her face. "Are you?"

"I am." he says. "But I think what would really make me better would be if we could stay here all day." he smiles.

Maggie finds it to be such a sweet smile, such an irresistible one, that she is almost tempted to agree with Hal and suggest that they stay here all day.

Maggie bites down on her lip.

"What?" he asks.

"As great as that sounds, Hal..." she begins.

He nods once.

"I know. There are places to go, aliens to see." he sighs, lifting his hands to his face as he speaks.

She watches as he runs his hands through his hair and then lowers them to his creased forehead, where he rubs a little harshly at the skin, as though he has a deep and pounding headache.

She keeps her eyes set on him.

"I know we can't have all day," she begins, still watching him.

"Mm?" he murmurs.

Maggie draws in a small breath of air as she carefully considers her next words, her next movements, and her next thoughts.

She almost lost Hal Mason.

He could have died, he could have never woken up, or he could have been seriously hurt or injured, and she would never have told him how she felt, how she truly felt, how she wanted to be with him.

This was her second chance, their second chance, but even now as they held each other's gaze she felt shaky, like she wasn't certain if she could follow through with this, like she had almost lost her nerve to tell him.

"But we can have now." she says.

He lifts an eyebrow like he's surprised she would agree to it because he knows how determined she is to not allow this, whatever they have, whatever this is, to get in the way of their roles and work as fighters and defenders of the Second Mass.

A smile plays on his lips. "Yeah?"

"Mhm." she says.

Maggie is hesitant at first.

He notices this, he understands this, so he stays still and watches her closely and carefully, like there is nothing else in the world but the two of them.

She feels him watching her, attempting to invade her thoughts, as she turns slightly on her side.

She readjusts herself so she's resting on the right side of her body, and once she is settled, once she has found her nerve and remembered the fear that she felt at the thought of losing him, she acts.

Maggie leans towards Hal with no hesitation.

She presses a kiss to his lips, her left hand rests upon his cheek, and she pulls him closer towards her. The kiss is sweet, and soft, and it shows him how she cares, how she fears she will lose him, and how she feels about him.

She is afraid of losing him, she still carries the pain that she felt when he fell limp, unconscious, on the ground of the warehouse. The pain is still raw, it is still there, and she is still fearful she will lose him or they will lose this.

Hal isn't afraid, he was never afraid.

A part of him always knew he'd see Maggie again, always knew that he would survive the darkness which swallowed him up, always knew that they would be together again and now that they are here, now that they are together again, he doesn't want to waste another second because they have wasted so much already.

And time is such a precious thing in this world, it should never be wasted or taken for granted.

He believed he'd see her again because it was something he had to believe.

Nothing could or would ever keep him from her.

He moves closer towards her, his hands find her cheeks, her hands find the back of his neck.

"Maggie..." he whispers, breaking the kiss, pulling back slightly.

She sighs shakily.

"You okay?" she asks.

Hal smiles sweetly.

"Never been better." he grins.

Maggie presses her lips together and waits for his words.

"I just...I'm not going anywhere." he says, because he feels like he has to tell her this, has to let her know this.

She smiles.

"Really?" she asks.

He nods once. "Really."

"You sure you won't get sick of me?" she asks, after a flickering second of silence.

His smile remains.

"Not possible. I could never get sick of you." he promises.

"Okay." she smiles.

"You, on the other hand – I give it an hour before you're sick of me." he teases, still grinning.

"Hal." she sighs.

"Okay. Ten minutes until you're sick of me." his grin widens.

She shakes her head.

"I won't get sick of you." she assures him.

Hal seems disbelieving of her words, like he's certain that she will either get sick of him or she will stop feeling something for him entirely.

"You're sure of that?" he asks, his insecurities coming through.

"I'm sure." she nods.

"Just so you know, a verbal contract is binding. I'm going to hold you to that." he says.

"Okay." she simply answers, a soft smile resting on her features.

He kisses her once more, and it is a sweet kiss, and she wants to stay here and she wants to stay with him, just as he wants to stay with her but they both know that today they don't have time just for each other, even though they need it.

* * *

"Not interrupting anything important, am I?" Hal calls out.

Tom glances up from where he had previously been kneeling in front of Matt, who has spun around towards the doorway at the sound of his Hal's voice echoing through the almost quiet room.

Matt's eyes light up, a large grin spreads on his face in seconds, and he rushes over towards Hal.

"No, not at all." Tom assures him, smiling at him as he speaks.

When he reaches Hal, Matt tightly wraps his arms around his brother's waist and holds him as tightly as he possibly can.

"Hey, Matt." Hal smiles.

Hal leans down and puts his arms around Matt's shoulders.

"Good to see you." Hal says.

Matt grins. "You too, Hal."

"Should you be up?" Tom asks.

Hal's smile remains, as he and Matt break the embrace.

"Yeah," Hal nods once. "I'm fine." he insists.

"Are you going to be okay, Hal?" Matt asks, the smile on his lips not as wide as it was seconds early, his face not as lit up.

"Of course I am, buddy." Hal confidently says. "I'm fine. I'm good. Doctor Glass cleared me." he says, which is partially true.

The first and only time Anne had visited Hal, while he was conscious, she had assured him that nothing was wrong with him, she could find nothing wrong, and so he had taken that to mean that he was cleared.

"Good." Matt smiles.

"What, er..What were you two talking about?" Hal asks, his eyes flickering briefly between his father and his brother.

Tom's smile remains. "It's nothing. It can wait until later."

Hal meets his father's gaze and simply holds it.

He feels like his father is hiding something from him, like he is keeping him in the dark, and he knows why Tom is doing this and it is because he believes he is fragile, that he is struggling with the news that he received upon waking.

But Hal is not struggling, he is not fragile, and he is not overwhelmed with this news because he doesn't feel anything.

Hal feels numb.

Matt shifts slightly. "I was going to go for breakfast. Do you want to come, Hal?" he asks.

Hal turns towards Matt, a small smile returning to his face.

"Alright, why don't I meet you there? I just have to talk to Maggie." Hal lies.

Matt nods quickly and smiles.

"I'll look out for Ben?" Matt suggests.

"Okay, buddy." Hal says.

"I'll see you later, okay?" Tom asks.

Matt nods.

Tom leans forward and presses a quick kiss to Matt's forehead before he steps back and watches as Matt runs from the room in search of Ben.

"Hal-" Tom begins.

"It's about the Presidency, isn't it?" Hal abruptly asks.

"That, among other things." Tom nods in agreement.

"What other things?" Hal sharply asks.

"That doesn't matter right now, what matters is your recovery." Tom says, a small, soft smile spreading onto his features as he watches his son with such concern.

Hal shakes his head once.

"I'm fine, Dad. I've recovered. Anne cleared me." Hal insists.

Tom's smile remains.

"She didn't clear you to leave., Hal." Tom says. "What, you didn't think I'd notice you were gone? We were worried, Hal."

"I was with Maggie." Hal answers.

"After you saw Dai's body." Tom says, with a much softer and understanding voice..

Ben came to Tom last night and told him of how Hal went to see Dai's body, how he was in there for quite some time, and how he was worried for him.

Hal clenches his jaw tightly together, so tightly together that his cheeks appear almost hollow.

Tom takes small steps forward, stopping only as he reaches Hal.

He lifts a hand to Hal's shoulder and sets it down gently.

Tom believes that as he puts his hand on his shoulder he sees a flicker of a jump, like he might recoil from the touch, but he doesn't.

Instead, Hal stays almost frighteningly silent and still.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Hal. I am. We all lost a fellow fighter, a friend, and a good man." Tom softly whispers.

Hal swallows tightly, shakes his head once, and then drops his head.

"I don't want to talk about this, Dad." Hal says.

Tom shakes his head sadly, he wears a solemn expression on his features.

"I know you don't, Hal. I know. I know it hurts, and you're grieving, but we have to talk about these things, we have to help each other through these difficult times." Tom insists. "We have to help each other."

Hal backs away.

He physically pulls away from his father, causing Tom's hand to fall by his own side. He watches as Hal shakes his head quickly, as he lifts his hands to his head and runs them over his face and then to the back of his neck.

"What's there to talk about, Dad?" Hal snaps, dropping his hands to his side.

"Hal." Tom patiently says.

"Dai is dead. You said it – his neck was snapped on impact, he died of head injuries, and he is dead. There is not a damn thing that we can do to bring him back. Not a thing." Hal states, his voice is filled with such anger, such pain, and it rises with each word that passes his lips.

Hal is agitated, he can't stand still, he can't keep his hands simply by his side.

"Hal, please, calm down." Tom pleads, wearing a painful expression of worry on his face.

Hal almost laughs.

"Calm down?" he almost shouts.

"Calm down, Hal, and we can talk about this." Tom suggests. "We can get through this." he promises.

"Talking won't fix it, it won't help us through this 'difficult' time because this time isn't difficult." Hal says sharply.

"Dai is gone, he's dead. What about that is difficult to understand? He is dead. That's it. It's over. He's not coming back. It's over. And this conversation? It's over too, Dad, because I really don't want to talk about this."

* * *

When Hal eventually makes his way towards the cafeteria he finds that it is buzzing with the residents of Charleston, as well as those from the Second Mass.

A feeling which he has not felt before overcomes Hal; he feels ashamed, like he is not worthy of greeting the members of the Second Mass as his comrades, as his fellow fighters. He feels ashamed because he wasn't there in the fight, he couldn't save Dai, he couldn't fight by his comrades sides because he couldn't fight at all.

He feels a guilt weighing down upon him, for only a brief second, as he thinks of Dai but the feeling quickly passes because Hal shuts it down, opting to feel numb instead of the alternative of feeling everything.

He spots Ben and Matt sitting at a small table in the corner of the room. He notes that there are four food trays on the table, one for each of them and one for their father but he doubts Tom will be joining them for breakfast.

Hal moves slowly towards his brothers and as he does he is careful to keep his head down, to avoid meeting the gaze of any Second Mass members whom he feels unworthy of.

As he reaches their table, Hal catches part of their conversation but before he can speak of it Matt catches sight of Hal.

"Hal!" Matt smiles. "We got you some food."

"Did you pick it out for me, Matt?" Hal asks.

Matt nods quickly.

"Good. Ben always had bad taste in food." Hal teases, smiling, as he glances towards Ben.

"No, I didn't. It was just that your definition of a meal meant eating the entire contents of the fridge." Ben counters, a small smile playing on his lips.

Hal scoffs but says nothing.

"Is Dad coming?" Matt asks.

Hal hesitates.

"I don't think so." Hal answers, as he pulls out the seat beside Matt.

"Doctor Glass cleared you?" Ben asks, almost suspiciously, almost like he knows that she never did such a thing.

Hal nods once and smiles, as he settles down in the chair.

"Yeah." Hal answers. "Uh...What were you two, er, talking about – before. When I got here?"

"Oh," Matt smiles. "We were talking about whether we think it will be a boy or a girl. I said boy but Ben thinks it'll be a girl." he says.

Hal has no idea whatsoever about what his brother's are talking about, but he acts as though he does.

"What?" Ben asks, noting the slight change in Hal's demeanour.

He appears stiffer, his smile faltered noticeably, his eyes had fallen down to his food.

"What?" Hal quickly counters, the smile returning.

"You thinking about what an old man you are now, to be getting another sibling?" Ben teases, still smiling.

Hal manages a small laugh.

"Er, yeah." he says, scratching at the back of the neck.

His father and Anne are expecting a child.

Hal doesn't understand why his father would keep something like this, something so big, from him.

"I, uh – I just remembered that I have an appointment with Doctor Glass." Hal lies.

"I thought you said she cleared you?" Matt asks, already sounding panicked at the thought of Hal not being okay.

"It's alright, buddy, it's just a check up." Hal states, turning towards Matt as he speaks.

"You're okay?" Matt checks.

Hal's smile widens. "I'm okay."

"Good." Matt smiles.

Hal stands abruptly in his chair. "I'll see you later." Hal states.

"Okay." Matt replies.

"See you." Ben says.

Hal leaves his brother's quickly, and as he begins moving, walking as quickly as he can, towards wherever his feet will lead him he suddenly halts.

He feels a surge overwhelm his body, he feels almost frozen, but it is what comes next that ignites a deep feeling of fear inside of his chest; he feels numb, like he cannot move, like he is incapable of taking another step, of lifting his arms, of moving at all.

His eyes shift towards the figure moving towards him in the distant.

Hal's vision is blurry, but he recognises her by her golden curls.

Maggie.

She walks towards Hal with an unnoticed urgency, as he stands so still and so rigid.

He takes a step towards her like nothing happened, like the sight of her was enough to cause him to walk, like he is absolutely fine.

When he reaches her Hal allows her to speak first.

"You okay?" she asks.

He notes that she already wears a deep frown on her forehead, she is stressed about him still.

He believes she has no reason to be worried.

"I'm good." he smiles. "What are you doing here?"

"We talked about this," she informs him, still frowning. "The meeting, selected soldiers of the Second Mass, Manchester, General Bressler and Porter."

Hal nods in agreement, like he remembers the conversation, but in all honestly, in his mind, in his own thoughts, he has no recollection of this conversation.

"I know." he nods. "Sorry, I'm just – I guess I'm tired or something."

She watches him closely for a moment.

"You okay?" she asks.

Hal nods before he presses a kiss to her forehead. "I'm fine."

She looks over him quickly before she sighs. "We better go."

* * *

**A/N: Hello :) I wanted to start this AN. by saying that I was deeply flattered and overwhelmed by the response to the first chapter I posted on here. It makes me so happy to know that there are people interested in reading this story, so thank you. A special thank you to the lovely reviewers, favouriters and followers. Again, it means so much. I'm really happy that you are enjoying this story and are excited about where it's going. I'm excited for you to find out where it's headed.**

**I just wanted to clear something up about the introduction of the new aliens. So, the new aliens that have been mentioned in landing in chapter one are the Etranyan's, of my own creation, and they will be prominent aliens in this story. They are completely new aliens which you will get a big insight into in one of the upcoming chapters.**

**As well as these new aliens, the Volm will ALSO be introduced in a later chapter.**

**I really wanted this story to revolve around the aliens and their interactions and conflicts with the humans as well as their interactions with the other aliens.. So, it will be the Etranyan's, the Volm, the Espheni, the sSitters (rebel and not), the brain worm bugs and those crawly ones. So, a lot of alien/human, alien/alien, and human/human chaos is going to come. :3 I only hope you enjoy it.**

**I'm sorry for the long note. **

**Anyway, thank you again and I hope you enjoy this new update. **

**X**


	3. The memories remain

**Disclaimer: Falling skies; is copyright to TNT. All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement is intended, and no money is being made. I claim nothing and own nothing but the laptop I wrote this on, any OC's I have or will include and the storyline (the parts I created of the storyline).**

* * *

Hal allows Maggie to lead the way to the meeting with Manchester and his men, he walks silently by her side, neither saying a word the entire journey.

Hal catches Maggie casting side glances at him several times but still neither say anything

As they near the room, they find two guards, Charleston soldiers, standing on either side of the door. She reaches for the door handle and pulls it open, without so much as a glance at the soldiers. Hal follows after her but as he comes to enter the room he wishes that he hadn't entered it.

Captain Weaver, Anthony and Tector stand to the side of the room. Several more Charleston soldiers stand, spread out almost, throughout the room. Arthur Manchester is currently absent, however General Bressler is here.

"Good to see you up, Hal." Captain Weaver comments, with a small smile and a slight nod of his head.

Hal simply nods in response to the Captain's words, finding that he has no appropriate response to reply with.

Hal doesn't feel good to be up, his body is raw and aches with each movement, he feels numb still, and he feels an impending feeling of emptiness that wants to take him, to swallow him and never return him, to remind him of his grief and his pain, but for now he can keep it out.

Despite all of these things, Hal can find one small positive; his aching, pounding, head-splitting headache has ceased and he feels that he can now think with a clear mind and breathe easier.

Tom enters next, followed closely by Arthur Manchester.

The discussion of the Second Mass' place in Charleston begins with the topic of Tom Mason being cast as President of Charleston.

Arthur Manchester and General Bressler are more than eager for this, as they believe that Tom Mason not only has a better knowledge of the aliens but he is also an appropriate choice for the position, which Manchester is more than willing to hand over if Tom will accept it.

Tom chooses to accept it.

After a brief, silent exchange with Hal, Tom accepts it. He accepts the offer and it is decided that he will be officially announced as President in a days time.

They speak of the aliens next, of how they will proceed with the meeting, of who will go and how they will prepare themselves if things do not go as planned.

And as they speak of these things, of the Second Mass staying in Charleston, of the Second Mass working with the Charleston soldiers, Hal feels his headache slowly returning.

Hal speaks up.

"I'm not working with them." Hal announces.

All eyes in the room turns towards the previously silent Hal Mason.

He stands firmly, his eyes set on his father like he is only speaking to Tom.

"Excuse me?" Arthur asks, a small frown resting on his face.

"I said I'm not working with them, with the Charleston soldiers." Hal continues.

Maggie whispers, softly, "Hal..."

Hal continues regardless of Maggie's soft objection.

"They're cowards." Hal states, still only holding his father's gaze.

"Hal." Tom sighs.

"I would be careful with your words, Hal Mason, and speak with more respect of soldiers who-" General Bressler begins.

"Who are, what? Cowards?" Hal suggests. "You all are. You left us for dead in the warehouse." he begins.

"Hal, that's enough." Tom insists.

"You didn't join us because you were cowards, and still you expect us to work peacefully by your side like nothing happened?" Hal asks, his voice unintentionally rising, booming through the room.

"Hal," Weaver begins, taking a step towards Hal. "This isn't the time or place, son." he says, with a surprising softness to his voice.

"When would you suggest that time is then, Captain?" Hal asks. "Dai's funeral – is that the right time or place?" he tilts his head slightly to the right. "Dai is dead because we were outnumbered-"

"Your soldier is dead because you walked into a bad situation, it happens." General Bressler announces. "And we are sorry, for your loss. But we are not cowards. None of us are. You should speak with respect of your fellow fighters, because we are on your side."

"You're not my fellow fighters, my fellow fighters are of the Second Mass. Yes, we were greedy. We tried to take out the Overlord at the first chance we got but if you had joined us, we might have had a chance, we would have been stronger – we could have won." Hal states, sounding so sure that if they had more soldiers they may have won.

"That thing you called the Overlord, it's dead. I'd call that winning, son." Manchester says.

"And the casualty, the soldier we lost, what would you call that?" Hal asks, his voice is softer, lower, almost like he is defeated.

"A casualty of the war." Manchester answers. "We have all lost men and women in this war and I am, sadly, certain that we will continue to lose many more unless, and until, we win this war and we can do this, we can win together. With Tom Mason as President, we can win. We can make a difference."

* * *

"Hal, a word, please?" Tom asks, as he catches up to Hal and Maggie.

Maggie turns slowly towards Tom and hesitates. She meets Hal's gaze, briefly, and the two share unspoken but understood words before she leaves the two to talk.

"I'm not going to apologise-" Hal begins.

"I don't want that." Tom assures him. "I don't want you to. That's not what I want."

"What do you want then, Dad?" Hal asks.

Tom seems reluctant, almost.

"I want to help you through this, Hal. I want to be here for you. But I want you to understand something. I need you to understand that what happened to Dai wasn't our fault, and it wasn't the Charleston soldier's faults either. It was the aliens, Hal. Not us. We couldn't have done anything."

"If that's what you want to believe, Dad, then that's great." Hal answers, quickly.

"It's the truth, Hal." Tom says.

Hal pauses.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Hal asks, loudly.

Tom appears confused, he sighs softly before he moves closer towards Hal.

"Tell you what, Hal? About the Presidency?" Tom asks.

Hal shakes his head once. "About Anne." he says.

Tom's expression quickly shifts, he sighs softly and then swallows tightly.

"Hal..." he begins. "I didn't.."

"Didn't want to tell me?" Hal asks.

"I didn't want to place all of this pressure, all of these new things, on you after you woke. I was worried, Hal, that's all. Not about how you would react, I was worried about your safety." Tom honestly admits.

Hal takes a minute to respond and when he does, he appears different, calmer, softer even.

"Congratulations, Dad." Hal says, finally. "On the baby, on the Presidency. If anyone deserves it, it's you." he says, with a genuine voice.

Hal takes a step away.

"Hal, don't leave, okay? Please. Let's just – let's talk about this, okay." Tom suggests, taking a step in Hal's direction.

Hal shakes his head again, a small yet sad smile appears on his face.

"I'm okay, Dad. I'm good. I'm just tired." he says.

"Hal." Tom says.

"Trust me." Hal calls out.

"I do. You know I do." Tom answers, with not a second of hesitation.

Hal curtly nods before he turns away from his father, hoping he may return to Maggie's room to rest for his body is weak, his painful headache has returned, and he longs for rest to take his tired mind and calm it, to take his pained body and ease it, to bring him peace and take him from darkness.

* * *

Hal takes slow steps, as do those by his side and behind him, as he holds up the stretcher on which the body of their fallen friend is carried on.

They move towards the burial grounds, in Charleston; a plot of land only a few minutes walk from the building, in which no other bodies have been buried.

Dai is the first casualty in the new Charleston, but he is not the first casualty of the Second Mass. They have been here far too many times before, they have lost too many good men and women, they have lost too much, and yet they continue on because they owe it to those who lost their lives to become the best of mankind, to do their best, to win this war for them.

Hal stands at the left hand side of the stretcher, holding it like one would lift a coffin. Tector stands behind Pope, followed by Tector. On the right hand side of the stretcher. Captain Weaver, Anthony and Tom hold it up.

They each take slow steps, like if they are to walk so slowly towards the grave then perhaps they will not have to bury his body, perhaps he may return to life in these fleeting seconds before they lower his body down slowly, and careful, into the grave which was dug for him.

When Hal glances up, he carelessly casts his eyes over the small group, to his left, of unrecognisable faces of Charleston soldiers and civilians who have come to honour the fallen soldier they never knew.

Hal searches for Maggie and he finds her in the crowd, standing alone.

He walks to her and only her, keeping his eyes firmly set on her for she is his strength and he so needs strength right now.

When he reaches her finally he stands by her side.

Without asking, without speaking, without thinking of doing so, he slides his fingers between hers, holding hers as she once held his.

He needs her, she is aware of this, and she needs him just as much.

They hold each other up by holding each other together.

Captain Weaver steps forward, clears his throat, and readies himself to speak, to say goodbye to a good friend.

"For those of you who didn't know him, Dai was a good man. He was a brave fighter, an excellent one, he was a great shooter and he was not a man of many words, but when he did speak it was worth listening to." Weaver loudly starts.

"We have lost too many on our journey, so far. Too many good men and women have died, for the war, but they have not died in vain. They have died fighting for, and defending, this world, our world, they fought for the world which they wished to reclaim. Unfortunately, we couldn't save Dai. But we can continue to do what he would have wanted us to, what he would have done, we can continue fighting, we cannot lose hope, and we can continue trying to reclaim this world. The fallen shall be remembered, just as we remember the living. Though they are no longer physically beside us, their memories shall remain, their spirit shall stay with us, their life will carry on inside of us." Weaver says.

Silence falls but only lasts seconds.

"Tom, would you like to say a word?" Weaver asks, turning towards Tom.

Tom nods and steps towards where Captain Weaver stands, the two share a brief look before Weaver takes a step to the side.

"As the Captain said, Dai was a great man. He was brave, ambitious, and he was determined. He was an excellent fighter, but more than anything he was a good friend. He was always loyal. And he will be sorely missed because he was family to us, he always will be family to us, and we won't forget him, because you can never forget your family. His memory will live on."

More silence follows.

Tom's eyes search until he finds the familiar brown eyes of his son.

He watches Hal silently for a moment before he speaks.

"Hal, would you like to say something?" Tom asks.

Hal swallows tightly, his grip on Maggie's hand unintentionally tightens.

"Hal." Maggie says.

He turns quickly towards her, seemingly unaware of how tight he was holding her hand, he continues to hold it.

He meets her gaze and waits for her words.

"You should say something." she says.

Hal nods once, releases his hand from her grip, and takes small, almost reluctant, steps towards where his father stands.

"Dai was with us from the very beginning," Hal starts, pausing only so that he may release a low sigh. "Right from the start, and uh...I think that, I just..I expected him to be here until the end, until we won, because he fought so hard I thought he at least deserved to reach that, to make it to the end with us."

Hal falls silent for a moment as he glances towards his father.

Tom is waiting, waiting for Hal to snap, to name the Charleston soldiers as cowards, to shout at them, to blame them for Dai's death.

But Hal doesn't snap, he doesn't place the blame on them, he doesn't shout.

Dai deserves better than that, at his funeral. He deserves to be remembered for who he was, not how he died.

"He was my friend," Hal continues. "My best-friend, my fellow fighter, and I knew I could always count on him, he always had my back. I mean, he was beyond loyal. And, uh..." he pauses, settling his eyes down upon the grave.

"I'll miss you, brother." Hal murmurs, so softly, that only those close to him are able to catch the words.

Maggie hears these words and breathes in sharply, in this moment all that she wishes to do is hold Hal, and comfort him, but it is clear that he doesn't want this. Hal doesn't want comfort of any form, because after he throws a handful of dirt in the grave, he walks away because he has to, because he needs to, because all that he can do is walk away from something as painful as this.

* * *

When she finds him she doesn't speak for she is uncertain of what words to say, of how to comfort him, because she isn't sure if he wants to speak, if he wants her comfort, so she simply approaches him.

She finds him sitting on the edge of her bed, as she found him earlier, but this time it is different.

He sits straight on the bed, his head does not rest in his hands, his hands stay firmly by his side, and she finds that he is watching the door like he is waiting for someone, or something, like he is waiting for her.

Maggie moves slowly, taking almost cautious steps, towards him but before she can sit down beside him Hal stands up.

"Is it over?" he asks.

Maggie nods once. "Yes." she says.

Hal swallows tightly, turns his head to the side and briefly closes his eyes.

"Hal..." she softly begins, because sometimes words can comfort.

But he doesn't want to hear it.

Hal sighs loudly.

"Maggie." he simply says, like she's supposed to understand that by uttering only her name that he doesn't want her to push this, he doesn't want to speak of this.

But she pushes it anyway because she has to, because she wants to care for him as he cared for her that night in the hospital, because she wants to comfort him as he comforted her by simply holding her hand.

Maggie takes a step closer to Hal, her eyes never leaving his as she does.

He watches her almost with a curiosity, like he is so uncertain, so unsure, of what she will do next.

She surprises him.

Maggie slides her arms around him, holding him tightly, closely, carefully. She sets her arms against his back, her palms flat on his spine, and she holds him.

For a brief second, his arms stay down by his side.

His eyes flutter between being opened and closed, a small sigh passes his lips, and then he exhales softly.

He places his arms down around her and embraces her, pulls her into his chest, holds her as closely as he can as he does long for some form of comfort in this dark moment which he has fallen into.

Hal feels himself shifting slowly, he feel his emotions changing, his head beginning to ache again.

The moment of comfort which he fell into vanishes and he is left with only darkness.

Hal's hand settle on Maggie's neck for a moment before he takes her, with a surprising force, by the back of the neck and pulls her head backwards so that their eyes may meet completely.

Confusion lurks in her eyes.

"Did you know about Anne?" he asks.

Maggie frowns. "Know what?"

"Don't lie to me, Maggie." he nearly pleads, his hand still resting at the back of her neck.

His grip unintentionally tightens.

She doesn't struggle underneath it, doesn't fight to break away from it, because she trusts Hal Mason unquestionably, more than she has ever trusted another in her life, and she could never fear him. She knows he would never hurt her.

"Did you know?" he repeats slowly. "Did you know about Anne?"

"Hal, you need to calm down." Maggie says.

"I don't need you to hide things from me, Maggie." he replies quickly.

"I'm not hiding anything." she promises. "I'm not, Hal. I'm not hiding anything. But you..You're tired-"

"I'm not tired, Maggie." he snaps back. "And I'm not going to rest because they're announcing my father as President, aren't they?"

"I didn't think you'd want to see that." she frowns.

"Why?" he replies.. "My father is being elected as President. Of course I want to be there."

Maggie doesn't understand the sudden shift in his mood.

He drops his hands down to his side and exhales heavily.

"Did you know?" he asks, a surprising calmness to his voice.

Maggie shakes her head once.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Hal." she honestly replies.

"That Anne is pregnant." he says.

Maggie's breathing hitches slightly, but not noticeably so.

She didn't know about this.

"No," she says finally, "I didn't know."

Hal believes her.

"I'm sorry, I-" he starts but halts.

"We should go. We don't want to be late." he says.

Maggie doesn't move.

"Hal.." she sighs.

He meets her gaze slowly, with brown eyes swirling with warmth and kindness.

"You okay?" she asks.

He sighs. "Yeah, I'm..I'm fine." he smiles. "I'm sorry. You're right, I'm tired...And just everything about today. It hasn't been easy."

"Okay." Maggie manages a small smile. "I understand and It's okay, Hal. It's okay. Let's go."

* * *

The soldiers and civilians of the Second Mass and of Charleston have formed around an empty wooden podium, on which a microphone stands and the flag hands down behind.

They wait for Arthur Manchester, who called the meeting.

Many in the Second Mass know what is to happen, that one of their own is about to be named President of Charleston, the placed they never believed they'd stay in after finding much difficulty settling in.

Maggie and Hal find a place in the crowd and watch on as Arthur Manchester takes the stage.

"Good afternoon all," Arthur starts. "You have all been called to this meeting for a reason, as usual, but this time it is different. This meeting, this announcement, starts with my resignation as President of Charleston and will continue with the appointment of another to take my place. The confirmation of this man, of this good friend of mine, being elected as President may only be determined by you, the people of Charleston, the soldiers and civilians of our great land, who shall vote for him. There are no other candidates for this position however you still hold your right to vote for him. Without further ado, here is, my old friend, Tom Mason, whom I hold the utmost confidence in. Take it away, Tom."

"Thank you. Arthur." Tom smiles, as he moves towards the microphone.

He steps towards it, his eyes skimming over the crowd as he does.

"Our world has changed vastly from the world that it once was, there is no denying that. We also cannot deny that when we are separated, when we are divided, we are at our most vulnerable state." Tom loudly starts.

"When I first came to Charleston I never pictured that I would one day be standing before you in a situation such as this. And I am honoured, that Arthur Manchester has bestowed this honour upon me, and if you choose to place your faith into me as President I will fight my hardest for you as I have fought my hardest for the Second Massachusetts. Divided, against the aliens, we are weakened. But it is in our nature to strengthen ourselves, to become stronger and, yes, we have been doing this from the moment that the aliens came but now we have a chance, we have a real opportunity, and we must take this chance. We have to seize it without hesitation. The opportunity that I speak of is the chance to grow together, to strengthen our forces, to make our numbers larger. We have the opportunity to be better, stronger, to do better things. We have the opportunity to weaken the enemy, to win this war. To do any of those things, we need hope. I'm certain that for some of you, if not most, hope is something that you lost a long time ago. But you can find it again, it can grow bigger. Hope is our key, hope will strengthen us, hope will bring us into a new world that we want, the world that we deserve, but we need more than that. Hope is our key but we need more than a key to reclaim what was once ours. We need to have faith and trust – not simply in each other but also in ourselves. We need to believe that we are strong, that we can fight this. We need to and we will be brave, because together we can be brave, together we can win this."

* * *

The meeting with the Etranyan's comes quicker than Tom believed it would.

In the day that passed, Tom was elected and cheered as the new President of Charleston.

He spent little time celebrating, although this did not bother him much, as there were more important things to deal with – such as the meeting with the aliens.

The group meeting with them, which consists of several members from both Charleston and the Second Mass, will meet on the border of Charleston.

The Charleston group consists of General Bressler, Colonel Porter, and six soldiers of Charleston. The Second Mass' group includes Tom, Captain Weaver, Pope, Anthony, Maggie, Hal, and, despite Hal's best efforts to convince his father otherwise, Ben.

They only have to wait outside the border of Charleston for a few moments before the same, single figure appears.

As Hal sets his eyes upon the figure, he almost can't believe what he is seeing for this creature is vastly different in contrast to the skitters and the Espheni that they have become so accustomed to.

This creature, the new alien called the Etranyan, is tall and muscular with legs, hands and arms identical to a humans with the only exception being that their fingers are longer and the points of their fingers are more circular.

It is the face of the Etranyan which catches Hal's attention, for it is _almost _human-like. Its jaw is hard set and straight, its skin is a dark blue with light patches of grey which, as he nears them, Hal realises that these grey patches are scars. The alien wears some sort of glowing attachment around it's neck and chest, almost like a holster of sorts with some sort of weapon locked in. Its skin is marked with a few shapes that can only really be described as being one half of a small square.

The eyes catch Hal; they are dark and green, wide yet small, and stand out against its navy skin.

It is only just taller than the human group before it, and so it leans down over them.

"We are here, like you asked us to be." Tom loudly announces.

The alien replies loudly. "Thank you for meeting with us, Professor Tom Mason, and all members of Charleston and the Second Massachusetts."

And it speaks without the use of Ben, without the use of anyone.

It's mouth opens and it speaks without using Ben, it speaks English, and this sets a panic off inside some of the soldiers.

Pope cocks his gun and points it at the alien.

"I ain't hearing things, am I?" Pope asks. "The cootie just spoke to us- in our language."

"How can you do that?" Weaver asks, with a clearly cautious voice.

"Upon landing on Earth, I was able to, through methods of connection, interact with the beams which stand inside the spinal cord of Benjamin Mason. Through this I was able to not only determine the language which you speak but also able to access the words and learn the vocabulary in Benjamin Mason's mind." the alien replies.

"Don't you go near him again." Hal announces loudly.

"We have no intention to harm any humans. We wish nothing bad on you. My name is Edalark Daricala Ethrenial. I am of the Etranyan species which once inhabited the land of Etrikan. Our land was occupied in a war with the Espheni and we were forced from it. We have heard of the human wars against the Espheni, you have lost many of your species just as we have lost hundreds upon hundreds of our own. We wish you no harm." Edalark says.

"Next thing you know, we'll hear you come in peace." Pope grunts.

"We do." Edalark answers. "We want nothing but peace and the complete remove of the Espheni. We wish to assist you in their removal, we wish to fight by your side."

"Why didn't you destroy them on your own planet? Or theirs? And who were you in war with, The Espheni?" Tom asks.

"We weren't given the opportunity to fight them in our own world. While we were regathering and regaining our strength and forces, the Espheni-" Edalark starts.

"They came down here?" Tom asks.

"Precisely." Edalark answers.

"What, and you just expect us to believe you?" General Bressler asks. "There's no way that we could believe it with certainty. There's no way."

"That is understandable, considering all that you have been through at the hands of the Espheni. I mean to offer you our help, our assistance, but also our technology. It is superior to yours and can assist you greatly in wiping out the Espheni for good for their aim is to conquer all that they can and remove all whom stand in their way. The human species stands in their way, as do we. We must stand by their side if we wish to defeat them successfully.." Edalark says.

"Wait..I'm sorry. You want to offer us your technology, such as..Weapons?" Tom asks loudly, taking a step towards Edalark.

"Tom..." Weaver stiffly says.

Tom ignores Captain Weaver.

"Why would you do that?" Tom asks, his eyes set firmly on the creature before him.

"Because we wish for you to win this war, we want to assist you in doing so. We have the same goals as you, we strive for the same achievements: the removal of the destroyers." Edalark answers. "And it is not just weaponry, Tom Mason, that we wish to offer you."

"What else?" Tom frowns deeply.

"Tools." Edalark answers. "Superior equipment which we have carried with us in our ships."

"What is this 'superior' equipment?" Weaver questions.

"The implantations that have been attached to the younger generations of this world, the implantations forced upon them by the Espehni as a means to control them, can easily be removed with this tool. No operation is required." Edalark announces.

"That's too damn easy," Pope shouts angrily. "Too damn easy, if you're asking me. You come down from the freakin' sky, claiming you can help us beat this war with your gadgets and remove the damn harnesses without any operation or risk. I don't buy it and I think anyone who does has lost their marbles.."

"We need time to think on this, Edalark." Tom states. "But I assure you, we will think on it."

Edalark nods slightly. "You may take what time you need, however I would advise against taking too long as I am certain the Espheni will not wait long to attack you in retaliation for your destruction of their tower and the death of their leader. It will not be long until they are alerted of our presence upon your planet."

Hal feels a slight haze overcoming him at this moment.

Slow, bright flashes appear before his open eyes.

He shuts his eyes to escape from these bright flashes, and exhales heavily.

"Can you give us a day?" Tom asks.

"We will reconvene in this location in a days time, if the timing is appropriate with you?" Edalark asks.

"It is." Tom answers.

And with that, they part ways with Edalark.

"Don't tell me, you and your damn alien infested brain actually bought that load of crap?" Pope loudly snaps, as Tom steps to move past him.

Pope blocks his way.

"Watch it, Pope." Weaver threatens, protectively.

"Why on earth would they want to help us? There's no sane reason for it." Pope states.

"Nothing about this world is sane, Pope. They want us to reclaim our land. They want the removal of the Espehni, as we do." Tom answers. "And honestly, Pope, the decision on whether we will or will not accept their offer has nothing to do with you."

Pope steps to the side as Tom moves quickly past him, back towards Charleston, with Weaver and Dai by his side.

"Everyone. Back inside." Tom orders.

If there is one thing that Tom can believe from Edalark, it is that they don't have much time.

Time is, unfortunately, not something they have ever had much of. Despite this, Tom knows that he, and the members of the Second Mass and Charleston involved, will need more time to determine if they can trust these aliens because they can't risk the safety of the people over the possibility of an alliance with these aliens.

They need time before they can trust, because the last time that an alien species came down from the sky they weren't interested in peace.

* * *

**A/N: Hi, all :) Thank you to everyone who reads and reviews my story, as well as those who favourite/follow. Your interest and response to my story is great and honestly means so much to me, and I hope you're enjoying reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it.**

**I hope you enjoy this new chapter, it was really fun for me to write the alien interactions and I can't wait to bring them back into future chapters.**

**Thank you for reading.**

**X**


	4. The new and the old

**Disclaimer: Falling skies; is copyright to TNT. All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement is intended, and no money is being made. I claim nothing and own nothing but the laptop I wrote this on, any OC's I have or will include and the storyline (the parts I created of the storyline).**

* * *

Ben finds Tom later in the evening inside his bedroom, resting on the edge of his bed with his eyes shut and his hands resting in his hair.

Ben doesn't know how to interrupt his father from his deep thoughts, so he coughs to clear his throat, to alert Tom that he is here.

Tom's head snaps up towards the door.

"Ben," Tom smiles. "What's up?"

Ben steps inside his father's room slowly and shuts the door.

"I was hoping I could have a word with you." Ben replies.

Tom nods enthusiastically.

"Of course, Ben. Take a seat." Tom says, gesturing towards the place on the bed beside him.

Ben sits down slowly, next to his father.

"It's about the new aliens, isn't it?" Tom asks, because he's always been good at reading his boys.

"Partially." Ben answers. "It's about them...And the rebel skitters."

"Have they been in contact with you, Ben?" Tom asks, his voice lifting a little louder than he'd intended it to.

"No, not yet. But I felt their presence when I was outside tonight. And I was... I wanted, well I didn't want your permission to see them but I wanted you to know I was planning to see them now." Ben announces.

"Ben, you can't go out there alone." Tom says.

Ben shakes his head once. "I won't be."

Tom frowns. "Who are you going with?"

"Anthony. I asked him and he said he'd go out there with me." Ben answers.

"Ben..." Tom starts.

"Dad, I need to do this. I need to know what their next move is. I told you, I'm staying in Charleston. But that doesn't mean I can't help the rebel skitters and it doesn't mean that they can't help us." Ben loudly replies.

He pauses.

"I won't be long, dad. Half an hour at the most." Ben adds.

"I wasn't going to say that." Tom smiles. "I was going to say be safe and when you return, come to me and tell me everything."

Tom moves towards Ben and wraps his arms tightly around his son.

"Be safe." Tom murmurs.

Ben smiles. "Aren't I always?"

"Mm." Tom replies. "Just.."

"I know, Dad." Ben's smile remains. "I'll see you soon."

* * *

When she returns to her room for the evening, Maggie finds Hal resting on her bed like he had been waiting for her for a long time.

He rests with his legs up, his feet hanging over the edge, and his hands underneath his head.

"How are you feeling?" Maggie asks.

After their encounter with the aliens he left her, he disappeared and for some time she couldn't find him, but eventually she stopped searching and decided that when he was ready he'd come back to her.

And he had, because he was here now.

"Fine." Hal effortlessly answers. "You?"

"Okay." Maggie answers.

She bites down on her lips and looks down at Hal.

"You hungry?" she asks.

He hesitates before nodding quickly.

"Yeah, I am. You had dinner yet?" he replies.

Maggie shakes her head once.

"Nope. You want to go get something to eat?" Maggie asks.

"What, like a date?" Hal grins.

He stands slowly from the bed, his eyes flickering over her carefully, like he wants to take in every detail of her.

"In your dreams." Maggie smiles.

"How'd you know?" his grin widens.

Maggie's rolls her eyes.

He steps towards her, charming smile still resting on his face, leaning down over her.

She looks up at him and smiles.

"Nah, not a date, Hal. A meal between partners." Maggie says.

"Alright, alright." he says, his hands raised slightly in the air. "If you say so."

"What?" she sighs.

"Nothing." he shakes his head. "Nothing. I just thought.."

Maggie lifts an eyebrow. "What?"

He shrugs. "Nothing, forget about it."

Maggie sighs and watches him still.

"Want me to bring it back here for you?"

Hal frowns slightly.

"You said you had a headache, It won't be as loud in here as it will be out in the cafeteria."

Hal considers her words and eventually agrees to them.

It will be quieter in here, it will be just the two of them in here, and in her room he won't come across anyone he doesn't want to see.

He nods.

"I'll be back." Maggie calls out, smiling at him still.

"Okay, partner." he winks, while grinning at her.

Maggie walks speedily to the cafeteria, picking up two trays as she enters and joining the line.

She wants to return to Hal as quickly as she can.

While standing in the line, a tall light haired man, with curly blonde hair and dark eyes, steps behind her. He leans forward and after observing that she carries two trays, he speaks.

"You're a hungry one, aren't you?" he asks.

Maggie stiffly turns back towards him.

A frown flickers across her features but she doesn't reply because she doesn't quite know how to reply to that.

"Or is that tray for me?" he smirks.

"Not a chance." Maggie smiles.

"Hm." the man murmurs, still smirking.

"You didn't come in with the last group, did you?" he asks.

Maggie turns back towards him.

"I came in with the Second Massachusetts. Why? Do you have a problem with them?" she asks defensively.

He shakes his head. "The Second Mass? Uh, I don't -That's not what I meant. My group just got in. I'm starved. I didn't recognise you as belonging to my group, is all."

"Your group?" Maggie repeats, her brow still creased.

"Yeah. We were occupying land to the South, we got pushed out by the aliens. A buddy of mine suggested we seek refuge in Charleston." he replies.

"Mm." she answers.

"How rude of me." he smiles. "Lars." he extends his hand.

She glances down at his hand but doesn't shake it, her hands are full with the two trays.

"My name is Lars." he repeats slowly.

She smirks, "Yeah. I got that."

He lifts a hand to his forehead and scratches the skin. "You got a name?"

"You got a last name?" she turns her back on him.

"Nope." Lars smiles. "You got a last name or a first name?"

"I got a first name." she answers.

After moving closer in the line, she leans forward and inspects the food. She then informs the workers behind what she'd like on the trays.

"So no last name?" he smirks, leaning in closer towards her. "Seems like me and you got something in common, don't we? Along with us both being fighters. You don't seem like the civilian type."

"Interesting conversation, Lars." Maggie says sarcastically.

She turns towards him, trays filled with food, a smile on her face.

"Let's not do it again."

"Hope I see you around, miss." he grins.

* * *

When Maggie returns to Hal she finds him resting on her bed, his legs hanging off the side, a smile on his patient features. He looks tired, she can tell, and he's still visible upset but she doesn't speak about that because she wants to make him feel better and she doubts that talking about it all at this moment will help.

"Smells good." he comments.

She passes the tray towards Hal before she takes a seat on the bed in front of him.

They eat their meals slowly, often stopping to talk, and laugh. It feels good, being in here with Maggie. It feels real to Hal, like it was always meant to be this way, like he was always supposed to be here with her.

"Here," Hal says, taking the clean tray from her hands. "I'll take them back."

Maggie smirks at this. "Ever the gentlemen. Next thing I know, you'll be opening doors for me."

"Hey," he grins. "Don't get too ahead of yourself."

As Hal sets his feet down upon the ground and stands, he looses all feeling and sensation in his right leg and half falls down towards the side.

The trays fall messily to the ground.

Maggie barely manages to catch him, to stop him from hitting the ground.

She grabs him by his side and pulls him upwards, helping him to stand again and straighten his legs out.

A frightened laugh escapes Hal's lips.

He tries to form words but isn't entirely sure what to say, he has no idea what just happened.

"Whoa. Hal, you okay?" she holds him up still.

Her eyes flicker over him quickly, like she's looking for a sign of an injury.

His eyes meet hers slowly, his smile remains.

"Yeah, my leg just – it went dead for a minute." he answers casually, because it's the only possible explanation that he can think of.

The frown remains set on her features. "Hal." she says sternly.

"What? It's true. You know, how when you sit on it for too long...Pins and needles, I think it's called?" he says.

Maggie nods briefly, apparently convinced by his words.

"You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," he smiles, "I'm all good. Doctor Glass cleared me, she said that there was nothing wrong with me."

"Yeah, I know.." Maggie sighs. "Just take it easy, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah." he smirks.

She holds him up still, her eyes still lingering with his. "Hal, I'm serious."

"So am I, Margaret," he smiles. "I'm fine. Quit hounding me, woman."

Maggie lifts an eyebrow. "Oh, I'm hounding you, am I?"

"Not exactly." he laughs, wishing he had chosen different words.

Maggie drops her hands and steps back. "I'd come with you, to put the trays back...But I don't want to hound you."

Hal can see a small smile fighting to break out on her lips.

"Maggie, come on." he sighs.

She kneels down, picks up the trays and then stands, extending the trays to him.

"Yeah, yeah. Off you go, Hal Mason." she smiles now.

"Alright, just...Hold up. You got a little something on your face." Hal says.

He ducks forward, presses a quick kiss to Maggie's cheek, before he takes the trays from her.

Maggie shoves him playfully with her hands. "Get out of here!"

Hal nods, the smirk remaining on his face. "Yes, ma'am."

* * *

"You heard them yourself," Tom says, as he glances towards General Bressler, Weaver, and Porter. "They have technology that could possibly help us in the removal of the harnesses. It would safely remove them with no effects, no pain, and no surgery."

Tom pauses, only so he may exhales heavily, before he speaks again.

"Do any of you have any idea what this means? For our world? For our harnessed children? It's just – It's everything that we have always wanted and needed. Safe removal systems. And their sudden appearance here means so much more than that, it does. It means that our chance to win this is bigger than before. It means that we are no longer fighting this alone. It could mean the difference of winning or losing the war." he says.

"Tom." Weaver sighs, "How do we even know that this technology exists? And that it will work?"

"We don't." Tom replies. "We don't know much about them."

"Exactly." Bressler cuts in. "We don't know if we can trust these creatures, the Elt- whatever the hell it is they call themselves."

"The Etranya." Tom corrects him.

"I don't care what they are called, or where they came from, but I do care about the people of Charleston and the people of this world and we have to know as much as we possibly can about these creatures before we can even consider trusting them." Bressler says.

Tom sighs loudly and scratches at his forehead.

"If they are speaking the truth, and General Bressler is correct when he says we don't know if we can trust them, there's only one way we can determine that." Tom says.

"What way is that, exactly, Tom?" Weaver asks.

Tom turns towards Dan and sighs. "Getting closer to them."

"Look.." Tom says. "I think we should reconvene this conversation about the aliens tomorrow, once we've had some time to sleep on it. And so, I'd like to talk about something else."

"You keep checking that clock like you're expecting something or someone." Porter says. "Is there somewhere you need to be, Tom?"

Tom stands quickly from his chair. "No. Yes – I just need to check on my boys. If we could reconvene at a later hour?"

"Sure, Tom." Weaver nods. "Go check on your boys."

Tom finds Matt inside his room, but he doesn't find Ben in the bed beside him. He searches for Ben in the room that he and Anne share, with Matt closely by his side, but he doesn't find him. Tom instructs Matt on searching for Hal, and once he found him he was supposed to tell him that Ben and Anthony had been gone for an hour longer than they were supposed to and there was no sign of them.

Tom left to meet with Weaver and plan a search group, he couldn't risk having Ben outside with a new alien species that they new almost nothing about.

When Matt catches Hal walking towards the cafeteria, he calls out loudly for his brother.

"Hal!" he shouts.

Hal turns towards Matt quickly, a smile already resting on his face.

"Hey, bud. What's up?" Hal asks.

"It's dad. He's looking for you." Matt says.

He sets the trays down on a nearby table and steps quickly towards Matt.

A frown deepens on Hal's face. "What for?"

"Ben. Ben went out – he went out to meet the skitters. The rebel skitters. He was supposed to be back an hour ago but he hasn't come back yet."

"What- He went out there alone?" Hal asks.

Matt quickly shakes his head. "No. He went out with Anthony. Dad's pulling some fighters together, he wants a patrol to go out but he won't let me go."

Hal sighs. "You know why that is, don't you?"

"No." Matt answers slowly.

Hal smiles at Matt. "It's because we need someone back here, to protect the civilians. You're good at that."

"I am?" Matt asks.

Hal nods simply. "Yeah, you are."

A small moment of silence passes before Matt speaks again, with a lower voice filled with insecurity and doubt about the safety of his brother.

"Is Ben going to be okay?"

Hal places his hands down on Matt's shoulders and squeezes them reassuringly.

"Yeah, he always is. Isn't he? Beside, these are the good skitters. They wouldn't hurt Ben, or us, okay?" Hal replies.

"Okay." Matt nods.

"Go tell dad I'm coming, I'm just getting Maggie." Hal instructs.

Matt pauses. "Hal?"

"Yeah, buddy?" Hal turns back around.

"Be careful." Matt calls out.

Hal smiles. "Always am."

Hal feels a feeling of relief sweep over him as he enters Maggie's room to find her inside, because now they can meet with the search group sooner and bring Ben and Anthony home.

She turns to him and smiles as she catches him in the doorway. "Back so soon? I thought that-"

"They're sending out a patrol for Ben, he went out to meet the rebels an hour ago and hasn't returned. You in?" Hal says.

"You know it." Maggie nods, noting the urgency in Hal's voice. "Let's go."

He nods and follows her outside.

Hal doesn't say it, because he wouldn't know where to begin or how to tell her, but he feels calm having Maggie by his side, he feels relieved, because the last time he went out on a mission was the warehouse.

He knows now that he has Maggie by his side, that she can have his back and he can have hers, and this lifts Hal's confidence.

She lifts his confidence.

Hal and Maggie meet up with Captain Weaver in the corridor, who was rounding up a small group for patrol.

He leads them towards a room they have never been to before, a room which Hal soon decides will probably become his father's room now that he's President of Charleston.

The group inside the room is small, and consists of Hal, Maggie, Captain Weaver, Tom, Pope, the Berserkers, and four Charleston soldiers.

Tom knows that Pope has only agreed to this because he wants to get outside, because he's no doubt going crazy inside the confinements of Charleston. And perhaps some of Pope's reason for being interested is because Anthony is out there too.

The plan is simple: the groups will split up into four groups and will begin a search of the perimeter in and outside of Charleston.

After they each supply themselves with weapons, and ammo, the groups head out through the main exit of Charleston ready to find Ben.

But as they come to the border, and prepare to split ways and begin their search for Anthony and Ben, they hear a voice coming from the East.

All heads turn left, towards Anthony and Ben.

"Ben?" Tom calls out.

"Oh yeah, you really needed our help finding Wally out here, Mason." Pope grunts.

"Ben, are you okay? Where have you been?" Tom asks.

"Dad!" Ben exclaims. "I met with the rebels, and just as we connected the new aliens came."

"Who, Edalark?" Tom asks.

"Don't name it!" Pope scowls. "Soon as you name it, it won't quit hanging around. Like a stray dog or something. Next thing you know, you're paying for it's god damn vet bills."

Ben nods quickly, as he comes to a halt in front of him.

The rest of the group catches up and forms behind and around Tom.

"Yeah, we don't know what happened next but it must've scared the skitters because they got the hell outta there as soon as those new ones came in." Anthony came.

"They – Where are they now?" Captain Weaver asks.

"They're coming, now. I think." Ben answers. "I think they followed us."

"Tom Mason," a voice comes from behind Ben.

Tom peers past Ben to find Edalark, accompanied by three new Etranyan's that he has never seen before, walking up behind Ben.

Tom protectively steps in front of Ben, his fingers unintentionally fall to his gun.

"I thought we told you we needed time." Tom calls out. "What do you want from us? From my son?"

"We want the same thing that you, and your son Benjamin Mason, want; the removal of the Espheni. And yes, you did mention that you needed time, Professor Mason, but unfortunately our time to act and move against the Espheni is not bountiful. They will have been alerted to our presence on your planet by now and will no doubt plan an attack against us, and eventually they will attack you. It is only a matter of time, and we do not have much time." Edalark replies.

"We need time-" Tom starts.

"As I said, Tom, time is sadly not on our side." Edalark insists.

Tom sighs. "I want to trust you. I do. But I don't know if I can. You need to tell us more about your land, more about your planet and your war against the Espheni. We need to know more about your species.

"There will be time for that afterward-" Edalark starts.

"Forgive us if we find it difficult to trust an alien species that fell down from the sky." Captain Weaver adds in.

"Please, Edalark, provide us with some answers." Tom says.

Edalark doesn't hesitate. "Unfortunately, I cannot for it is not only irrelevant to what we wish to achieve on this planet but it is a risk, Tom. I only wish that you shall understand this and allow us to assist you."

Tom shakes his head slowly and lowers his head. "Unfortunately, I can't risk the safety of the people of the Second Mass, the people of Charleston – Or the people of this world until we know that we can trust you."

A sharp, screeching sound echoes throughout the air as the last words pass Tom Mason's lips.

The sound is so much stronger than the one that shot through the air upon the arrival of the Etranyan's.

The Etranyan's stand unaffected by it while those human clutch at their ears and their pounding heads.

The sound is strong and sends violent waves through the ears of all their.

But for Hal, it is so much worse.

It feels like his head is splitting open, like he can feel it doing so, and so he falls down on his knees and continues to clutch at his head, crying out in agony as he does.

"What are you doing to us?" Tom manages to shout out.

And then the sound just stops.

Hands fall to their sides, before grasping their weapons and pointing them towards Edalark.

Maggie drops down to Hal's side.

"Hal, you okay?" she asks, her hand falling to his back.

His hands stay clutched to his head, his voice is dry as he responds.

"Yeah."

"Come on, son." Weaver kneels over and places a hand on Hal's shoulder.

Weaver takes Hal's left arm, Maggie takes his right, and they help him to stand slowly form the ground.

But before Hal can thank them, before they can say anything, their eyes lift upwards towards thes sky.

"They have come." Edalark states, glancing upwards towards the sky.

Tom's eyes follow quickly.

Bright white lights are falling down from the sky, but they are not so foolish as to believe that they are just lights for they witnessed a sight similar to this only a few days earlier.

They are more aliens.

Tom's voice breaks. "More aliens?"

The lights near, become brighter, and the sound which had sent shocking waves into the minds of all humans falters, flickers as though it might return.

Edalark doesn't respond, he stands still watch these pods as they make their way down to the earth.

"Oh, hell no." Pope sighs, "You gotta be freakin' kidding me!"

"More of your kind? How many?" Tom asks.

Edalark turns to the aliens beside him and says something in a language that no human could possibly hope to understand.

One of the Etranyan's leave, the other stays by Edalark's side.

"Are they more of your kind?!" Tom shouts out, as he watches the lights falling down before them. "We need answers!"

All hands stay readied on weapons.

"No," Edalark replies. "They are not of our kind."

The next seconds pass quickly.

The pods fall down, implant into the ground and set up, and then they become steady and still.

A single pod falls behind the group, while the others fall away at a further distance, almost like they are trying to distant themselves from Charleston.

The Second Mass, and the soldiers of Charleston, find themselves to be stuck in the middle between the Etranyan's and this, apparently, new species who have just landed in capsules.

Tom steps towards Edalark. "What- How many aliens are there? Are they Espheni? Are they allies or enemy?"

Edalark turns towards Tom Mason. "They are the Volm."

The silver capsule opens slowly, a small illusion of smoke rises from within, and then, just as Edalark stepped out, a tall figure steps out.

This figure is covered in some sort of metallic suit, with a thick heavy lid and a shield of sorts. The lid rises, and opens, and a dark green face appears behind it.

Several more aliens in identical suits step out.

A tense silence follows.

The human fighters have their hands on their weapons, unsure of which alien to be looking towards.

The Etranyan's stand still and firm, their eyes locked in on the Volm.

The Volm step out slowly, with big and almost inquisitive eyes, towards the humans.

The first person to speak is Captain Weaver.

"Er..Tom...Any idea on what the hell to do next?" Weaver asks.

Pope groans. "Am I the only one who feels like we've just been caged in?"

Silence follows.

Pope releases a deep sigh. "So, what do you think? They'll breed us caged or free-range?"

* * *

**A/N: Hi :) I hope you enjoy reading this new chapter, and thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my story. **

**Also, I just wanted to ask what you readers are thinking of the Etranyan's at this point. I know, not much has been revealed about them and it will be soon (just as I'll introduce more about the Volm and my interpretation of them) but I'd just really like the feedback on your thoughts of the new aliens and so on. So, any feedback would be appreciated. :)**

**Guest review:**

**Idkmybffjill1314: 6/26/13 . chapter 3:  
**Thank you for leaving a review anyway :) I'm really happy that you're enjoying it, and thank you for calling it that. That's very nice of you. Thank you for reading and reviewing my story. I hope you like this new chapter :D x

**Also, a special thanks to kili-grabmyhand for their support and discussion of this story with me. Your ideas and words helped me to clarify a lot, so thank you. :3**

**Enjoy!**


	5. Luck and loss

**Disclaimer: Falling skies; is copyright to TNT. All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement is intended, and no money is being made. I claim nothing and own nothing but the laptop I wrote this on, any OC's I have or will include and the storyline (the parts I created of the storyline).**

* * *

**Three weeks later.**

"List your name and age for the record." Anthony instructs.

He looks upwards briefly and casts her eyes over the dark haired man with the shaggy beard and messy hair, dressed in a dark blue and green shirt and brown pants. He coughs to clear his throat and then speaks.

"William Hall," he says. "Thirty Seven years old."

Anthony nods before he writes this down on the paper before him.

"Occupation before the invasion?" Anthony asks.

"Teacher." William replies.

"Location before the invasion?" Anthony questions.

"Georgia." William answers.

"Do you have any family or relations in or outside of Charleston?" Anthony asks.

"Yes, er -" William starts. "Outside of Charleston? I don't know if I have any living family. Maybe a cousin alive. I don't know. But inside Charleston, with me – I have my daughter Leila and my brother Jason."

"Okay." Anthony says. "Who were you with before you came to Charleston?"

"The group that just came in." William replies.

Anthony looks up and releases a small sigh. "Sir, I'm going to need you to be more specific than that. We've had three groups come in this week alone."

"Okay." William nods. "Sorry. I'm sorry, I came in with the 3rd Georgia group."

Anthony writes this down quickly. "And how many people are in that group?"

"Twenty eight, I think. Give or take one or two. We just lost so many..Look, I don't know for sure. I'm sorry." William answers.

"It's okay. Thanks, William. You're free to go, and once you're daughter and brother have been processed into the database we'll send them out to you and set the three of you up in one room. Is that okay?"

"Thanks." William extends his hand to Anthony's.

Anthony shakes it. "Welcome to Charleston."

Captain Weaver finds Tom standing several feet away from the two rooms in which the new members of Charleston, the groups that came to Charleston seeking refuge, are being processed into the database.

"Tom," Weaver calls out.

Tom turns around quickly.

"Sorry. Should I say, President Mason?" Weaver asks.

Tom smiles. "Tom will do just fine, Dan. What can I help you with?"

"I was just coming to see how this.. Processing system was going." Weaver answers slowly.

Tom nods and turns back to the rooms, looking over the small lines which have formed outside of them. Weaver joins Tom's side and also settles his eyes down upon the new members of Charleston.

"Good. I think." Tom nods. "We've got the soldiers and some civilians taking shifts to take in the details about the new members. Jeanne's in room two, she's doing really good."

Weaver smiles proudly. "Is she?"

"She's really good with the people, Dan. I stepped in and listened, and she knows just what to say. Like daughter like father." Tom smiles, turning towards Weaver as he speaks.

Weaver looks on proudly towards the room Jeanne is in before he turns towards Tom.

"I must say, Tom.." Weaver sighs. "I'm a little surprised to see you out here. I'm also more than a little surprised to see our fighters, like Anthony and Maggie, jotting down notes that any civilian could do."

Tom turns directly towards Dan now, his eyes settled on the Captain. "Dan, we've had this conversation. At the moment, there is no fighting to be done. We've had no attacks from the Espheni. The only reason that I'm using our fighters is because they know the questions to ask. They're quick, and they know that they have to get this done."

Weaver sighs heavily.

Tom steps closer as he continues, "I'm not wasting their usage but what can they do at the moment, Tom? We've got civilian builders, as well as Charleston soldiers and Second Mass soldiers, working on making more living space available inside of Charleston. And outside of Charleston, Pope is..spearheading the construction of a little town which will be able to be occupied in less than a week. We're doing all that we can at the moment, Dan. I assure you."

Dan nods. "There's a lot going on for us in Charleston, considering we had no plans to stay. I think that we can make it work, for our fighters and civilians."

Tom agrees.

"The fighters and the civilians will come around eventually. This is our best choice at the moment. It's safe and we can keep our civilians protected at all times. And with the fighters, It doesn't take them long to conduct these new interviews - with each new group that comes in we gain the possibility of more fighters. Sure, a lot of them have never fought in combat but before the war I didn't. We all learn. The fighters have way of determining who is and who could never be a fighter. They'll mark the sheets, we'll call them forward and discuss the possibility of them joining the fighters. If they don't join the fighters, there are many other things that they can do to be useful." Tom answers confidently.

"I have confidence in you, Tom, and your ideas." Weaver nods. "But I think that what we should be focusing on is our next movements."

"We will, Dan. But I think our first priority should be focusing on recruiting fighters from within Charleston as well as within the groups who have sought refuge here. The larger the number that we have the better the chance we have. I think we have to place a high amount of priority on recovering and recuperating these men and women, and with that said the safety of our people is a priority so I think what we're doing, taking in their details and information, is necessary to doing just that." Tom says.

Weaver considers Tom's words before he speaks again.

"And you're sure we've got enough room for them all? The groups have been coming in frequently, Tom."

"That's true, Dan, but the groups are small," Tom counters, "The highest group being thirty, the lowest being fifteen."

Dan pauses before he nods.

A moment of silence passes before Weaver breaks it.

"When does Ben return from his meeting with the rebels?" Weaver asks.

"Any minute now." Tom replies. "Hal and Maggie went with him. They should be back soon."

Captain Weaver nods.

Tom releases a low sigh. "Is there something specific that you wanted to talk to me about, Dan?"

"Look, Tom...I don't doubt you.."

Tom smiles. "You have before."

Weaver's smile returns, he shakes his head as he answers. "I don't doubt you now, I haven't in a long time. You and I have come a long way, Tom. You've always had the right ideas, so I don't doubt that this time is any different. You have good intentions because you're a good man, but what I do doubt..."

"You doubt the aliens." Tom gathers from the look on Dan's face.

Captain Weaver pauses before he nods.

"What aliens?" Tom asks.

A dry laugh passes Weaver's lips. "What aliens? All of them, Tom. I doubt all of them. Except, maybe, I don't doubt the rebel skitters as much as the others but that's only because they saved our asses in that warehouse."

"I'm right there with you, Dan. How could I not be? We still don't know if we can trust them." Tom agrees.

Weaver lowers his voice. "What have they given us to show that they can be trusted? They've given us no reason. Sure, they offered a lot. But how can we accept it without having complete certainty? Because we don't have complete certainty."

"I think we should have this conversation somewhere a little more private, Dan. My office?"

Captain Weaver nods.

He and Tom walk in several moments of silence before they reach Tom's office. He nods at the soldiers at the doors before he opens the door and allows Weaver to enter the room first. Tom closes the door behind him and turns towards Weaver who is waiting for him to speak.

"You're right. They haven't given us any reason to trust them, not anything solid anyway. That's why I asked Ben to meet with the rebels. He's meeting with them to ask about the Volm, and the Etranyan's, so we can know all the rebels know about them." Tom replies.

Weaver presses his hands together and fidgets with them for a moment before he speaks again.

"Tell me, honestly, Tom..That you don't think it's a little too coincidental that not even a week passes after the Etranyan's arrival that the Volm arrive. The Volm speaks to us in English, offering the same technology and war winning materials that the first aliens offered. They give us the same speech about wanting peace, and yet the two aliens didn't even share a word. If you ask me, Tom, it's a little too convenient that they just happened to drop out of the sky and right down on Charleston. Right after we arrived."

Tom nods quickly. "That's what I thought too, Dan. But now...Now I think that they wouldn't have come down here, and they wouldn't have put up the front of peace, if they didn't want to help. I think what we need to do is take it one day at a time."

"What first, then?" Weaver asks.

"The Volm have requested a meeting this afternoon." Tom says.

But he seems like he's keeping something back, like that's not all that there is to say.

"And?" Weaver presses for more.

Tom sighs. "And so have the Etranyans."

"Don't tell me ..At the same time?" Weaver asks.

"Mhm." Tom nods.

"You know, Tom, It's almost like...They're competing with each other."

"How do you mean?" Tom lifts an eyebrow.

"They both want to meet with you at the same time. They both want to offer us the technology to remove harnesses. What are we going to do, Tom? Accept both of their offers, or flip a coin and call heads or tails? We don't know if we can trust either of them." Weaver states.

"It's possible that they both want to help."

"Hm." Weaver sighs. "Where do they want to meet?"

"Charleston. My office." Tom says. "I asked Edalark to wait until I've spoken with Cochise. Then, I'll speak with him."

"Tom...Just be careful with them. We don't know if we can trust them. We don't know what to think on them, okay?"

"Thanks for the concern, Dan." Tom smiles.

"I'm just looking out for you, and our people." Weaver replies. "What time is the meeting?"

"Four. I'll meet you back here?" Tom answers.

Weaver nods. "See you at four, Tom."

"Oh, and Dan?" Tom calls out, after he'd watched Dan move towards the door.

"I have to meet with Marina now, but before that I have to see to Ben .But can we talk later?" Tom asks. "After the meetings with Cochise and Edalark."

Weaver pauses. "Everything alright, Tom?"

"Mm." Tom smiles. "I'd just like a word later."

"Okay." Weaver nods.

Tom's smile remains. "Great."

* * *

Hal could barely stand still or keep his mind focused on anything, as he waited for Ben to return from the meeting with the rebels. Hal had insisted and nearly shouted that he should accompany Ben, but after Ben's constant refusal Maggie had finally stepped in between the brothers and had told Ben to go alone but to be careful, and that they wouldn't be far away if he needed them.

Hal had paced, shoved his hands into his pockets, and taken in all of the details of his surroundings until Ben finally returned and as he stepped through the clearing Hal moved quickly towards him.

"So, what'd they say?" Hal asks.

"We should head back to camp." Ben avoids his question.

Hal agrees to this, but this doesn't stop him from asking what happened.

"Ben. what'd they say?" Hal repeats.

He watches Ben closely as they lead the way back to camp. Maggie stays at the back, keeping a watch out and having Ben and Hal's backs on the way back. She knows that Hal needs to have a word with Ben about everything that's happened with the skitters, she could see it all over Hal's face when the skitters and Ben were communicating.

"Not much." Ben replies casually.

Maggie smirks to herself, because she already knows how Hal is going to react to words like that.

And he reacts just as she expected him to.

"What do you mean, not much?! We've been out here for half an hour, Ben. And they give you 'not much'?" Hal snaps back quickly.

Ben catches a hint of Maggie's smile and a smile plays on his lips, but his smile goes unnoticed by Hal.

"Look," Hal sighs. "I know, I haven't always..." he starts.

"The rebels said they didn't know much about either, because they didn't have much interaction prior or during the war with the Espheni. They did agree that the Volm and Etranyan technology was advanced, it was very similar to their own. They don't know much else. Okay?" Ben answers.

"So, what, the skitters and these new aliens don't get along?" Hal asks.

Ben shakes his head. "No. It's not that, but they're wary of them...Look at what the Espheni has done to them. They've taken the skitters in masses and are now controlling and using them."

Hal shoots Ben a glare. "Wait. You feel bad for the skitters?"

Ben pauses.

Hal laughs with disbelief and lifts his hands to his face, running them over his creased brow.

"Ben, you've gotta be kidding me." Hal turns back towards his brother.

"I don't feel bad for all the skitters, Hal. Just the rebel ones. They weren't always controlled by the Espheni." Ben replies. "They didn't always do bad things."

Hal sighs and looks back to Ben. "Yeah, well, I don't care what they were doing before. What I care about is what they've done to our planet and our people."

"Look..." Ben stops abruptly, as they near the border of Charleston. "You wouldn't understand, okay? I get that. So, don't try to."

"What? I wouldn't understand?" he frowns. "So, try me. Try to make me understand. Explain it to me, Ben." Hal sharply replies.

Maggie sighs and steps between the two brothers.

"Ben," she says, a small smile on her face. "You should go and see Tom, tell him what you learnt."

Ben nods slowly. "Yep."

Ben leaves quickly, slipping back through to the outer Charleston. Hal turns to Maggie with a mixed expression resting upon his face.

"Cool down, Hal." Maggie answers. "He's right, we don't understand."

Hal shakes his head. "But we- we could understand."

Maggie sighs and shakes her head. "We haven't been through what Ben's been through. We can't understand the connection he has with them, or what it feels like. We can't even begin to understand. What he's doing, Hal...He's just saving you the time of failing."

"What, you think just because we haven't gone through the same thing that we can't understand it?" Hal replies, his forehead still deeply creased.

"It's the same with nearly every situation or event that we go through that leaves a mark. No one else can understand it, I mean really understand it unless they've been through it too." Maggie says softly.

She lifts her eyes up slowly to meet Hal's and he looks like he wants to speak, wants to say something or anything, but he doesn't.

Instead, he nods at Maggie and continues to hold her eyes.

"Go cool off, get something to eat. Or help out with the buildings." Maggie says. "I got a shift."

Hal nods once more and remains silent, before he watches Maggie turns her back on him and move down towards the outskirts of Charleston. He casts his eyes over the little town being fixed and rebuilt on the left hand side, before he looks over the other standing and broken buildings.

He follows after her eventually, his feet leading him through the rubble and dust but his mind travelling somewhere else entirely.

* * *

"State your name and age for the record." Maggie says, as she glances up from the paper on the desk before her and looks upwards to find a dark eyed girl with black curls and tanned skin sitting before her.

She smiles. "Denny. Fifteen years old."

Maggie copies that down on the paper before she looks back up.

"Should I ask about your occupation before the invasion..Or.." Maggie begins.

She stops as Denny nods.

"Yeah, I went to school before the invasion but I worked a bit on my Uncle's farm." she says.

Maggie smiles. "Nice. How was that?"

"It was good." Denny says, "I liked it."

"I'll just right that down..." Maggie says, before she scrawls it down.

"Okay. Your location before the invasion?" Maggie asks.

Denny pauses. "Uh..."

Maggie looks up slowly and meets Denny's gaze, watching as it seems she begins to try and remember her location before the invasion.

"Sorry." Denny sighs. "North Carolina."

"That's fine." Maggie assures her. "Sorry to ask this..It's routine. But do you have any relations inside or outside of Charleston?"

"No." Denny answers.

Maggie slowly writes it down.

"And the group you came in with?" she asks.

"The group of de-harnessed and harnessed children, that came with the North Carolina group." Denny answers slowly.

"Okay." Maggie smiles.

"You're not...You didn't ask about my last name." Denny says.

Denny waits until she looks up to meet her gaze. "Don't you have to know?"

"Yeah, well.." Maggie nods slowly. "I'm guessing you didn't say it for a reason."

And it is only now that Maggie notices that Denny has the remnants of a harness.

Denny nods quickly. "They won't get mad at you?"

"Nah," Maggie's smile returns. "I'll just put something down. How about...Denny Davis. How's that?"

"Okay." Denny nods. "Thanks." she says, somewhat awkwardly.

"Welcome to Charleston, Denny Davis." Maggie extends her hand.

"Thanks..." Denny softly begins.

"Maggie." Maggie says quickly.

"Thanks, Maggie." Denny smiles warmly as she shakes Maggie's hand.

Maggie returns the smile.

Denny stands from the chair and moves towards the exit door, leaving the chair open for the next person to get processed.

As Maggie finishes filling out the paper sheet on the desk, she hears footsteps move towards the chair, the scraping of a chair, and then eventually someone sitting down and releasing a content sigh.

"State your name and age for the record." Maggie says without looking upwards.

A somewhat familiar voice responds to her words.

"Feels like I'm being charged or something."

Maggie frowns and quickly glances up, finding Lars sitting before her with his arms crossed over his chest and a smug smile resting on his face.

Her eyes narrow. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm getting processed." he shrugs.

Maggie's brow furrows. "You've been here for four weeks."

"So you have taken notice of me, then, Margaret." he grins.

"How do you know my name?" she asks.

Lars smiles. "I asked around."

Maggie rolls her eyes. "State your name and age for the record."

"Lars," he answers, "Twenty eight years old."

Maggie lifts an eyebrow. "What, Lars is your real name?"

"Look at you," his smirk remains. "Being all judgemental. Seems they got the wrong person doing the processing."

She sighs heavily. "Why didn't you get this done when it opened up three weeks ago?"

"I've been busy, building the outer-Charleston. You should come take a look-" he begins.

"Okay," Maggie cuts over him." So, Lars. Is that your full name?"

"Yep."

"You're a bad liar, Lars." she says.

He pauses before he shrugs, again. "It's the only name I got."

Maggie sighs and writes it down. "Occupation before the invasion?"

"Mechanic." Lars answers.

Maggie writes it down without a word.

"What'd you do before the invasion, Maggie?" he smiles smugly, clearly proud that he's learnt her name.

"Location before the invasion?" she asks, ignoring him completely.

"Georgia." Lars replies.

"Do you have any relations inside or outside of Charleston?" she asks.

Lars considers Maggie's question for a moment before he shakes his head.

"Nope."

"The group you came in with?"

Lars looks up at Maggie. "I already told you that."

"Well, say it again. I wasn't really paying attention the first time." she smirks.

He grins. "Too busy checking me out."

Maggie rolls her eyes again. "What group did you come in with, Lars?"

"We were occupying land to the South and got pushed out." he answers.

"So, Charleston?" she asks.

He nods. "Sure."

Maggie scribbles something down on his paper before she stacks it to the side.

"Welcome to Charleston, Lars."

Lars nods at Maggie, a grin still on his face, before he turns and walks away from her.

Maggie releases a sigh and waits for the next person to be processed to walk towards her desk. She knows that they have more important things to do than this; she could be building, or doing a patrol with Hal, but instead she's stuck inside on a shift processing civilian's which any current civilian of Charleston could do.

She can't help but feel that using the fighter's to do the processing is a waste of time, and perhaps there's a deeper reason for it.

* * *

Hal had listened to Maggie's words, because she was almost always right, and he'd decided that he needed time to cool down, to think on things, and mostly time to walk. He timed his escape from the border perfectly and had managed to slip outside unnoticed. Hal liked it outside, out past Charleston, and down at the edge of the forest. It was the one place in Charleston that he actually liked being in, because he almost couldn't stand being inside for too long.

It was strange, Hal thought, how he had feared Maggie would be the first one, out of the two of them, to get sick of the security and setting of Charleston. He didn't think that he'd find himself disliking it as much as he did, but he blamed that on his inability to forget how the Charleston soldiers failed Dai.

Hal quickly pushes the thoughts of Dai out of his mind, because they are still too painful and too raw, and he keeps pushing forward.

He'd only been here once before, but he still liked it more than anywhere else he'd been. His feet lead him down further into the forest, and he finds himself in search of a log to sit down upon. The sun feels nice against his skin, and he feels calmer out here already.

The only thing that could make him feel calmer, that could make him feel better, is if his persistent headache went away for good. Over the past three weeks, Hal's headache had varied from being sharp and aching to a mild numbing sensation.

And then it had disappeared over week ago, until today.

It had returned when he and Maggie had been waiting for Ben outside in the forest.

Hal releases a content sigh and imagines the smug and satisfied smile on Maggie's face once he returns inside and tells her she was right again, like she usually is.

Hal smiles to himself and continues moving forward. He pauses abruptly as he finds something strange with his fingers; all of his fingers on his right hand are shaking, shaking like he's cold or the air is frosty, but Hal isn't cold and the air isn't frosty.

A frown begins to stretch across his forehead as he moves to step forward but can't. He looks down at his right knee and finds that it's almost like his knee is locked in an immovable position.

The panic sets in as he tries to take the step forward, but again he can only move with his left leg. He finds now that his left hand has begun to shake.

His headache grows stronger in a matter of seconds. He tries to reach for his head, to rub at his forehead, but his hands won't move. And then it hits him – at first it feels like his head has been split open. He hits the ground without even realising that his feet had given out on him, and his hands become stuck tightly and stiffly by his side.

He tries to call out, to cry out with agony, but he can't summon a word. Hal's jaw becomes locked in and his legs begin to kick, and then they stop and his entire body begins to shake. His eyes roll backwards into his head and he feels himself fading away, sees the daylight waning, feels painful jolts shock and move through his body and yet he is helpless to fight it.

* * *

"Thank you for meeting with me, President Mason." Cochise nods, as he looks upon Tom Mason.

Tom shuts the door to his office and gestures towards an armchair.

"Please, take a seat, Cochise." Tom says.

Tom looks quickly over Captain Weaver, Colonel Porter, General Bressler, and Manchester before he turns back to Cochise who continues to stand upright.

"I am quite alright standing in this upright physical position, President Mason." Cochise replies.

Tom pauses before he takes his own seat, nodding at Cochise as he does.

"Whatever is comfortable for you, Cochise." Tom replies.

An awkward and tense silence fills the room and is broken by General Bressler.

"What is it that we're here for, Tom?" Bressler asks. "What else does the alien have to tell us?"

"Cochise requested this meeting for various reasons, that I'm still unsure of. So, Cochise, if you wouldn't mind stating these reasons and why it is you requested a meeting." Tom suggests.

"Yes, President Mason." Cochise replies. "There are many reasons that I have requested this meeting today. Firstly, it has been several days since we last made contacted and in that meeting you requested for time to think on our offers however you were not clear or specific on how much time exactly you would require to come to such conclusions about these decisions. Time is not something that is bountiful for either of us, and with that said I do not wish to rush you or any of the human race into a forced agreement."

"So," Weaver loudly starts, "Basically, what you're here for is to tell us we're taking too long on deciding on whether we can trust another alien species but you don't want to rush us? Forgive me for saying so, Tom, but I think we can take however the hell long we need to decide what is best for us and our people."

"Yes, Captain Weaver, a valid point. Only, the longer that you take to reach your decision means the longer until we can start planned and joined offensives against the Espheni, and the longer that the harness devices remain implanted in your offspring." Cochise states.

Weaver sighs. "I don't think-"

"There's an obvious difficulty here, Cochise. We don't know if we can trust you, or the Etranyan's for that matter. It would make this easier if you could tell us more about yourself, and your war with the Espheni." Tom loudly suggests.

"Of course, President Mason, if that is what you wish to hear than I shall tell you all that I can. The Espheni engaged in a war with my species, The Volm, however to say that the Espheni gave us a clear warning of what was to come would be mistaken. They came in millions and wiped out half of our species, the half of us who survived was able to make it on to our ships and travel a safe distance away from the Espheni. After they destroyed our planet and left it beyond the point of inhabitation, they moved on to Earth to repeat the process."

"And the Etranyan's, as they call themselves.." Manchester begins. "How and where do they fit into this?"

"I'm sorry, Arthur Manchester, but I do not believe that I entirely understand your question." Cochise answers. "Are you asking what planet they belonged to, or where it was on our planet that they, as you said, fitted in? To the first, I would answer that the Etranyan's hail from Etrikan. We are from Varitalor. Our planets are not joined, or co-joined, we are connected only because we were linked in the same sphere. However, the distance between us was so substantial that we rarely made contact. It was almost like the distance that your planet Earth holds to our planet Varitalor."

"When you were attacked, where were the Etranyan's?" Tom asks.

"Due to the distance between Etrikan and Varitalor, when the Etranyan's were attacked by the Espheni we remained unaware. When we were attacked, we sought help from The Etranyan's who had been pushed from their planet. And as the Espheni pushed us from our planet, the Etranyan's did not come to our side, they did not answer our calls of help. In regards to their exact location during the great attack, I hold no such knowledge."

"And your kind...You said half were wiped out?" Weaver asks.

Cochise falters ."Yes. Why do you wish for me to repeat such news, Captain Weaver?"

"He means to enquire about how many were with you..." Tom says. "At the beginning?"

"To limit the numbers to any human number would be too small still." Cochise replies. "Are there any other questions, President Mason?"

Tom looks at the people around him, who each shake their heads, before he turns towards Cochise.

"There is only one more question, Cochise." Tom stands up.

"Yes, President Mason." Cochise says.

Tom shares a silent exchange with Weaver before he speaks. "How is it you learnt and manufactured the technology to remove the harnesses?"

"My apologies, President Mason, I should have stated that the Espheni first attacked Eleedium. The home of those you call the skitters. That it where they first implemented techniques of 'harnessing', as you call it, and from that knowledge we were able to gather what it is they were attempting to do and so we built weapons and technology to remove these harnesses if they were ever to be placed among our kind or yours."

* * *

When it passes he wakes to the taste of blood.

Hal wakes slowly to the dirty ground, to find that he is alone and sore. His skin feels cold and calmly, and is scattered with stains of mud and dirt. His body shivers involuntarily, uncontrollably, like he's been dunked in and held inside a tank of icy cold, harsh water.

A sharp jolt of pain rises in his back as he sits upwards, it runs up his spine then hits his head. His eyes close tightly and he exhales heavily, as he attempts to calm himself and stop the panic that races through his head.

Hal wipes at his nose and pulls his hand away to find blood; he turns his hand over slowly, examines the blood, and then quickly wipes it away against his pants.

Hal tries to convince himself that nothing happened because he's is scared. He pulls himself up from the ground and tries to steady his breathing, he looks around frantically but finds that he is entirely alone. A permanent frown stays etched on his face as he stretches his legs, and then his hands. He feels fine now, he convinces himself. His headache has passed, the aching feeling has subdued, and the pain isn't there any more.

Hal doesn't know what happened or why, all that he knows is that he can't place this worry on to his family, or on Maggie. Hal convinces himself that he's fine, that he slipped and hit his head and imagined the entire scenario. He convinces himself this because he doesn't want to believe it, and if he doesn't believe it then it didn't happen.

* * *

After finishing her shift for the afternoon, Maggie returns to her room and lays down on her bed for a moment.

She stretches out and settles down against the pillows, needing a moment alone, a moment of peace, after dealing with the new arrivals in the procession line.

Just as she shuts her eyes and believes she might find a moment of peace, the door to her room slides open and shut. Her eyes open slowly and she finds Hal entering her bedroom, a smile already resting upon his face. She didn't expect to see him smiling, considering the way that they left things and how down he was earlier.

She rolls over onto her side and props herself up against a pillow.

"Hey, where you been?" she asks casually.

"Did a little walking." he says, shutting the door behind him.

He turns towards her as she nods.

"Mm.." she murmurs.

"Did a little cooling off." he says.

A smile plays on her lips. "Did you?"

"Mhm. Did a little shopping, for my lady." he says, the grin breaking out on his face.

Maggie lifts an eyebrow at this. "Oh, really? Your lady?"

Hal steps towards the bed, takes a seat down upon it and swings his legs up. He turns on his side and leans in close to Maggie.

"Mhm." he replies, the grin widening on his face. "I think she's my lady."

"Why?" she asks.

He frowns quickly.

"Why'd you buy it, I mean." she says quickly.

Hal shrugs. "I saw it and I thought of you."

Maggie watches Hal with curiosity. "This sounds interesting. What'd you get, a grenade? A gun?"

"Nah. You want to see it?" he asks.

"Mhm." Maggie nods.

Hal reaches into the right pocket of his pants and pulls out a chocolate bar, a wild grin resting on his face as he does this. He looks overly pleased with himself and what he has returned with for Maggie. His smile widens when he sees the smile spread on her lips, seeing her happy, watching her smile, makes him feel happy. It makes him feel better, she makes him feel better.

"Chocolate?!" Maggie grins, and then her smile falters.

"You saw this and thought of me?" she frowns.

"No, no." Hal quickly corrects himself. "What I meant when I said that was...I saw it and thought of you in the way that I doubted you hadn't had one for a long time."

"You ramble when you're nervous." Maggie smiles.

"Well, thanks for pointing that out." he laughs heartily.

"How'd you get one?" she asks, looking down at the chocolate bar.

Hal shrugs. "Nothing big. You know.. I just had to sell my liver on the black-market. Like I said, nothing big."

Maggie rolls her eyes and hits Hal playfully in the stomach.

He fakes pain and cries out. "Ouch!"

"Stop it." Maggie hits him again.

"Hey," Hal leans away. "Watch it or I'll just eat it myself. Don't think I wasn't tempted to on the walk here."

Maggie sighs. "Ever the romantic, Hal Mason."

His smile widens.

"I thought you bought it for me?" she asks.

"I did but don't think that I won't hesitate to eat it." he threatens.

"Hal." Maggie says.

"I told you, vengeance would be Hal's and so Hal has his vengeance by eating the chocolate bar whole." he smirks.

Maggie simply shoots him another look.

He sighs and concedes. "Fine!"

"How could I not give it to you?" he smiles before he leans in and presses a quick kiss to his lips.

Maggie watches as Hal unwraps the chocolate bar and breaks a piece. He leans forward like he might pass it to her, but before she can take it he snatches it away from her and swallows the piece whole.

"Hey!" she exclaims.

He laughs cheekily.

"You're such a tease." Maggie hits him again.

"Hey," Hal loudly says. "If I remember correctly, you were the one stringing me on."

"Oh, really?" Maggie lifts an unimpressed eyebrow.

"Mhm." his smile widens.

Then, Hal laughs nervously.

"Come on, Maggie-" he starts.

"I was never stringing you on." Maggie hits him again. "You're such a jerk."

Hal's smile falters. "You don't mean that."

She shakes her head. "Oh, but I do."

"Come on, Maggie..." he sighs, the smile still on his face. "We both know the truth."

She looks at him closely, waiting for him to continue.

"You just can't face it. You were totally stringing me on." he laughs again.

Maggie rolls her eyes and shoves Hal playfully but harshly, he slides back and the top half of his body slips back off of the bed. He has to catches himself on the table beside the bed and pull himself upwards. He looks back up at her with an obvious smile playing on his lips, despite his best attempts to remain serious.

"Hey, Margaret! Hal says sternly. "What you did just then could have seriously injured me!"

She rolls her eyes again.

"Stop rolling your eyes!" he pokes her.

"Did you just poke me?" she nearly laughs.

"Every time you roll your eyes at me, I'm going to poke you." he grins.

Maggie smirks. "And every time you're a jerk to me, I'm going to hit you. Or push you off of the bed."

"You know, I wonder how I got so lucky with you," he smirks. "You push me around, and off of beds. I hit the jack-pot."

She simply watches him, with such intensity he feels like she can see right through him.

"You know," he sits upwards. "I'm half serious. I am lucky."

Her smile returns slowly. "Yeah, yeah, Hal Mason. Whatever you say."

* * *

**A/N: Hi :) Here is an early update which I hope you like! I apologise about the time jump, especially with how the last chapter ended with the introduction of the Volm but I liked that it would skip forward and show how not much progress has been made with the aliens while regards to those seeking refuge in Charleston there has been quite a bit of progress made. I also liked the idea of you guys, the readers, knowing as little about what happened when the Volm landed then what the actual civilians (and the soldiers who weren't there) in the story knowing. But I promise that what happened when and after the Volm landed, as well as the days after, will be addressed in one of the following chapters.**

**Thank you for taking the time to read my story, and I hope that you like where this story is headed. Also, a big thanks for the feedback on the last chapter about the aliens. It's really helpful, and interesting to know what you think.**

**Thanks for reading & I hope you enjoy.**


	6. Failed promises

**Disclaimer: Falling skies; is copyright to TNT. All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement is intended, and no money is being made. I claim nothing and own nothing but the laptop I wrote this on, any OC's I have or will include and the storyline (the parts I created of the storyline).**

* * *

Jeanne looks up from her seat, in one of the rooms that new members of Charleston are being processed, and smiles briefly at the brown eyed man with long dark hair that has just taken a seat before her. He looks thin, too thin, like he hasn't eaten in a very long time.

"Please, say your name and age for the records." she kindly asks.

"Alfred Miller. Thirty seven years old." he answers gruffly.

"Occupation before the invasion." Jeanne says.

Alfred pauses. "Didn't have one."

"Okay." Jeanne smiles. "Location before the invasion?"

"I don't really see how that's of any relevance to you or to the people who sanctioned this processing system." Alfred states, his arms now crossed.

She looks up at Alfred and smiles somewhat awkwardly.

"I'm sorry. It's just.. A regulation set by the President." Jeanne answers.

Alfred sighs. "Well, guess I better comply then. South Dakota."

Jeanne writes it down. "Thank you."

He nods.

"Do you have any relations inside or outside of Charleston?" she asks.

"Outside, no." he answers. "But I've got four boys – Sorry, not mine. They aren't my sons. My nephews, they came into Charleston with me. They're just getting processed now. I think."

"Okay. Can I have their names and age?" Jeanne questions.

Alfred lifts his hand to his unkempt beard and scratches it.

"Thomas, Jacob, Albert and Mitchell Miller." he says.

Jeanne writes their names down quickly.

"Thomas is fifteen, Jacob is seventeen, Albert is nine and, er.. Mitchell is twenty seven." he answers.

"Okay." Jeanne smiles. "What group did you come in with?"

Alfred frowns. "I'm sorry?"

"I need the name of the group that you came into Charleston with." she replies.

His frown deepens and silence follows.

"Like...I'm from the Second Massachusetts resistance group." Jeanne smiles.

Alfred pauses before he shakes his head. "Oh, no. We didn't come from a resistance group."

Jeanne frowns now. "I'm sorry?"

"We didn't come from a resistance group. It was just the five of us who made our way here to Charleston." he says.

"Okay." Jeanne says, quickly noting it down. "You'll be given a room together to fit the five of you. Is that okay?"

"Yes, that's fine." he nods. "Can I go?"

She nods. "Sure. Welcome to Charleston."

Alfred stands and shoves his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah, sure." he murmurs, before he moves outside towards his nephews.

Jeanne finishes her shift and swaps over, and when she exits she finds her father waiting outside with his arms crossed and a deep frown on his face.

"Papa bear," Jeanne smiles. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, baby bear." he replies. "Now that you're here. I'm waiting on my second meeting with Tom, and wanted to see you. You know, I saw you in there.. you did great. And Tom said you were excellent. I'm really proud of you, Jeanne."

Jeanne's smile widens as she embraces her father. "Thank you."

"How's it going in there? Nobody's giving you any hassle, are they? Any difficulty?" he asks, the protectiveness ringing through his voice.

"No, papa bear." Jeanne smiles. "They're all nice. They're just..Scared and lonely. I really think that what you're doing, and what Tom has set up here, is great and I'm just glad that they can all find a home here in Charleston."

"You're such a good girl, baby bear." Weaver smiles and presses a kiss to her forehead. "Don't change on me."

"I won't change if you never leave me." Jeanne says, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

Weaver smiles and holds Jeanne tighter. "Deal."

* * *

"Name and age for the record." Anthony asks, glancing up quickly to look up at the new Charleston refuge who has just taken his seat.

His hair is dark brown, long, and shaggy, hanging messily in curls by his face. He pulls on a dark beanie as he sits down and slides his hair back into it, revealing a bearded and scarred face. He glances up at Anthony slowly, sliding his hands into his pockets.

He sighs. "Mitchell."

Anthony looks over him curiously, finding something _almost_ familiar about the way that he is, the way that he can't sit still, and even his deep blue eyes hold some sort of familiarity. He pushes these thoughts out and moves forward with his questions.

"Last name?" Anthony looks up.

"Miller." he says.

Anthony nods and writes down this information. "Can I have your age, sir?"

"Twenty seven." he says.

Anthony pauses. "Occupation before the invasion."

"Er...I..." he scratches at his forehead. "I worked in a store. A grocery store."

"Okay," Anthony nods again. "Location?"

"South Carolina." he answers.

"Location during the invasion?" Anthony asks.

"The same." Mitchell answers.

"Okay, sir. Do you have any relations inside or outside of Charleston?"

"Not outside. I just came in – I have three brothers, and my Uncle is here." Mitchell says.

Anthony nods. "Their name and age, please?"

"Haven't you already discussed this with them?" he asks.

"Yes, but it's policy set out by the President and it must be followed. So, again, sir, may I please have their name and age?"

"Alfred is 37. Thomas is fifteen, Jacob is sixteen and Albert is nine. And before you ask, we didn't come in with a resistance group. It's been the five of us who travelled here to Charleston."

"Okay, I-" Anthony starts but stops, glancing up to find Tom moving towards him.

"Anthony. A word, please?" Tom asks.

Anthony nods, stacks the paper away, and glances to Mitchell.

"You're free to go."

Mitchell nods, stands slowly from the chair and exits the room.

Anthony stands and moves towards Tom's side.

"What's up, Tom?" he asks.

"We've got a situation with Edalark. I need you to pull together Captain Weaver, Colonel Porter, some Charleston soldiers and Ben. I'll meet you outside on the border, okay?"

"Okay, Tom." Anthony nods and picks up his gun.

"Thanks, Anthony." Tom smiles briefly, but the stress is too evident on his face for Anthony to believe this conversation will be an easy one.

* * *

Hal lies stretched out on the bed, his hands behind his head and his feet out, with Maggie sitting beside with the bar of chocolate in her hands and a pleased smile on her lips.

"You busy tonight?" he asks.

She pauses, glancing up at him slowly. "I have a shift later. You?"

"Yeah, same." he sighs, shifting in his seat. "Want to meet up for dinner?"

Her smile widens. "What, like a date?"

She swallows a piece of chocolate, and looks back up as he rolls his eyes.

"No, not like a date. I'm not falling into that again." he mutters.

Maggie feigns shock. "Not falling into _what_?"

"It's not a date. Just a dinner between partners." he says quickly, no trace of a smile. "The only date we'll ever go on will be in my dreams, right? Because partners don't go out on dates."

She sighs and almost rolls her eyes.

"This is a post apocalyptic world-" she begins.

"Don't get started on that again." his smile breaks out, but it is a weak attempt at a smile.

"All I'm saying is..." she starts.

"Yeah, yeah. We gotta keep out priorities straight, we have to keep our focus on the world as a whole and not on our own lives. Let's just drop it, alright?" he chucks her a sideways glance, finally looking at her. "Alright?" he repeats.

"Alright." she frowns.

A sudden and loud knocking on the door draws their attention away from the few peaceful and carefree moments that they'd managed to find together.

Hal gets up from the bed slowly, swiping a piece of chocolate out of her hands, before he crosses the room and reaches the door. He opens the door to find his father standing in front of the door with his arms crossed and a frown resting upon his face. He looks worried, Hal can see this already.

Hal frowns at the sight of his father.

"Dad, what's up?"

Tom frowns when he finds Hal at the door. "Hal...I was actually hoping to speak to Maggie."

Hal presses his lips together and turns briefly back to Maggie, who is moving towards the door. He looks back at his father and releases a small sigh.

"Well," he puts his hands into the pockets of his pants. "This is awkward."

Hal shoves the piece of chocolate into his mouth.

"What'd you want to talk about, Tom?" Maggie joins his side.

Hal swallows the chocolate and then speaks.

"Yeah, dad, what'd you want to talk about?" Hal asks, and it's almost like he somehow knows exactly what Tom wanted to talk about.

Tom came in search of Maggie because he wanted to see how Hal was doing.

Tom sighs heavily. "Look, Hal..I don't have much time. We don't. Just promise me you'll think about this rationally, okay?"

"I don't know-" Hal starts.

"Hal." Maggie shoots him a look.

He sighs and turns to his father. "Fine. I'll try."

"It's about the Etranyan's." Tom says.

"What about them?" Hal crosses his arms. "Don't tell me, more of them have flown down?"

"No, nope." Tom shakes his head. "That's not it. I was going to ask Maggie to head out on a search, with a small group."

"What, and you weren't going to ask me? Wait – who are you searching for?" Hal asks quickly. "Is it Ben, _again_?"

"Nope. It's not Ben. The leader of the Etranyan's, Edalark, arranged a meeting with me several days ago. He stressed how important it was that we talk, and that meeting was scheduled for today. I agreed that it was of high importance and accepted the meeting, but he's over an hour late." Tom admits.

"You think the Espheni got to him?" Maggie frowns.

"I don't know what to think, but we need to speak with him. Maggie, Hal, will you come out on the search?" Tom asks.

Maggie nods eagerly. "I'm in."

Hal sighs and drops his arms to his side. "Sure. I'm in."

He won't say it to her, but he's only going out for Maggie's sake. He wants to have her back, like she always has his. Hal doesn't care for the aliens and what's keeping them from this meeting. He doesn't trust them, and he doesn't think they can help like they claim to.

"Thanks, Hal. I really appreciate this." Tom smiles, pressing his hand down on Hal's shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah." Hal answers.

* * *

Once the group going out in search of Edalark has formed they head outside, move past the border and decide to start by surveying the land near and around the Etranyan's tower. The group consists of several Charleston soldiers led by Colonel Porter, as well as a small Charleston group including Tom, Ben, Maggie, Hal, Anthony and Captain Weaver.

Tom had debated whether they should bring the Berserkers along, because he couldn't deny that they were great fighters and handy to have in difficult situations, but he could see them going against the orders and trying to kill any aliens that they crossed.

The Charleston splits up and goes East and West of the structure, while the Second Mass moves directly towards it.

Only moments after heading forward, and separating from the Charleston group, Captain Weaver finds a streak of blood running across the forest ground. He calls Tom over and they inspect it closer, finding that the blood is fresh and still wet.

They move forward still, their guns readied and their eyes carefully surveying their surroundings and taking in every detail of the ground around them.

Ben pauses and looks on forward.

"I think they're nearby." he announces.

Hal moves quickly to his brother's side.

"Who? The Etranyan's?" Hal asks, his grip on his gun tightening, ready to fire if needed.

Ben nods and briefly turns to Hal. "I can.."

He fails to finish his sentence.

"What?" Hal frowns.

Ben shakes his head. "Don't worry."

Ben tries to step away but Hal moves with him and stops him.

"No, Ben." Hal snaps, "What? You can, what?"

Ben releases a low sigh and looks past Hal, turning directly towards his father.

"Ben." Tom says, joining his son's side. "What is it?"

"I think I can feel their presence growing, but..But it's weaker." Ben says. "Like before, when they approached the skitters, I felt them but it's different now."

"Let's enter this situation carefully, okay?" Weaver calls out.

Anthony joins the Captain's side and they continue to move in slowly, through the shrubbery and thick trees and bushes. They find more scattered blood stains, and then footprints which Anthony announces aren't alien; he can make out the track and they look like boot markings from the shoe of a human.

Tom breaks through a thick row of bushes with Ben by his side, and in the next seconds they come face to face with a weapon that they have never seen before.

It looks like a far superior and advanced version of a gun, and it's pointed right at Tom and Ben. Hal darts forward past the group, despite Weaver's order for no one to move, and he lifts his own gun to the alien.

"Hal." Tom sighs, shutting his eyes as the Etranyan holding the weapon pulls another out and places it on Hal.

Silence follows but only lasts for seconds.

"My name is Tom Mason. I'm with the Second Mass, and the New city of Charleston." Tom announces.

The Etranyan drops its weapon from Tom, as he recognises him from his conversations with Edalark, but keeps his second weapon pointed at Hal.

Tom notes know how similar this Etranyan looks to Edalark, the only difference being is that his markings are somewhat lighter and he appears younger almost. His eyes are darker also, and he has far less scars than Edalark has.

"And who is this? This human?" The Etranyan gestures towards Hal with his weapon.

"My son, Hal Mason. He means you no harm, none of us do. We mean you no harm at all." Tom says quickly. "Please, put your weapon down." he looks to Hal.

Hal drops his weapon slowly, and with an obvious reluctance.

The Etranyan doesn't lower its weapon.

"We've come in search of Edalark." Tom announces. "He and I arranged a meeting, but he failed to attend."

"I am Jedara Daricala Ethrenial, the Son of Edalark." he says.

Now, Tom understands why he found a similarity in this alien.

Tom manages a small smile in an incredibly tense situation. "I didn't know Edalark had children."

"He had several. Now it is only I who carries on the Ethrenial line. What is it you seek here?" Jedara says.

"Where is he - Edalark? We had a meeting, which he failed to attend." Tom asks calmly, noting that Jedara slowly lowers his weapon from Hal's face.

"He was injured," Jedara says stiffly. "Attacked by one of your race whom he assumed meant no harm to him."

"What- A human attacked Edalark? Is he injured badly?" Tom asks.

"He was unprepared but not wounded deeply, for our exterior is far stronger than yours and can adjust to certain requirements. However, he seeks a rest which you must grant him for the years of war have left him worn." Jedara answers stiffly.

He pauses before he steps forward, leaning down over Tom as he does. He presses a hand down on Tom's shoulder, and watches him briefly for a moment.

"You may retrieve your human, President Mason." Jedara says.

A frown crosses Tom's face. "What- You kept him captive?"

"To subdue him we were forced to chain him." Jedara answers impassively. "You may follow me to the border, where I will instruct that he is released to you. Only if you swear that he will not return to attack one of our own for if he does I cannot guarantee his safety or his life."

Tom nods quickly. "I swear."

Jedara nods. "This way."

"Wait, Tom.." Weaver starts. "You can't go walking into there alone." he says, remembering clearly what happened the last time that he was led away by aliens.

Jedara gestures to Ben. "He may accompany us."

"Fine." Ben nods.

Tom turns back to the group and smiles, glancing mostly at Hal who wears a shocked look on his face.

"Trust me." Tom says.

"We do trust you, Tom." Weaver answers.

And his absence of words say all that is needed to be said; they don't trust the aliens.

"I assure you that we do not mean Tom Mason, or any other human, harm. Now, if you would follow me." Jedara says.

Ben shares a brief exchange with Hal before he turns to his father, they walk slowly after Jedara and move down towards the Etranyan's structure.

Hal turns to Weaver only seconds after Ben and Tom have left.

"We have to go after them. Secure the perimeter, back them up if they need it." Hal suggests. "We can't just let them walk in there."

As much as Captain Weaver wishes to do this, he disagrees with Hal and shakes his head.

"Tom knows what he's doing, he'll be fine. They both will be." Weaver answers.

Hal shakes his head and sighs. "What – Do you seriously not remember the last time that he walked away with the aliens, he was on a ship for months and tortured...And Ben – he was harnessed. We can't just stand by and trust these aliens when we know nothing about them."

Weaver inches closer to Hal. "All that we can do is trust Tom. He has a good sense of things, he knows what he's doing. He won't let anything happen to Ben."

"Yeah, well..." Hal drops his hands to his side. "If anything happens to them, it's on us."

With that, Hal turns and quickly steps away from the ground and begins moving away from the alien structure. Maggie turns to Captain Weaver and releases a small breath of air.

"I'll go after him." she says.

Weaver nods. "Thank you."

Maggie leaves quickly and follows after Hal, wondering what exactly he is doing and where he is going. She moves quicker and catches up to him, stopping him from walking any further away because they might be needed by the Captain or Tom at a minutes notice.

"Hal," she grabs his shoulder.

He turns around quickly, a frown still etched on his face.

"What?" he asks.

"What's going on?" she looks over him quickly.

"What do you think is going on, Maggie?" he sharply answers. "My father and brother just walked away with aliens. If you don't remember-"

"Of course I remember, Hal." Maggie answers. "But Tom knows what he's doing, and so does Ben. Have a little faith, Hal."

"Yeah, well, it's a little hard to have faith sometimes especially after Ben was taken by the skitters and my dad was tortured and help captive on an alien ship." Hal snaps back. "Look, you said it yourself...Earlier. You wouldn't understand what it was like, because you didn't go through it. So don't try to. Okay? Don't. Just leave it."

Her expression shifts but remains impassive. "Fine. Take your time, Hal."

He nods and turns his back on her, his voice still gruff and low as he speaks. "Thanks."

Jedara leads Tom and Ben to the border of the structure, and once they reach it he turns to them and instructs that they do not enter but instead wait were they are. He also informs Tom Mason that he will return with word from Edalark about their meeting and when it should be held.

Only a few minutes pass before Jedara returns, followed by two smaller Etranyan's. He leads the way and instructs that they wait several feet away, while Jedara approaches Tom and Ben who cannot gain a clear view of the human who is struggling in the arms of the Etranyan.

"I carry word from Edalark." Jedara says. "He wishes to meet with you in a days time, in the morning."

Tom nods. "That's fine, that's a good time."

Jedara pauses. "This is the first human attack that we have had on our kind, and it is only because of my father's confidence in you and your race that it has been ordered that we forget this attack."

"Thank you, Jedara. And please, send my thanks to Edalark. I am certain that this is a misunderstanding." Tom says quickly.

Jedara nods once. "As I said, the human is released into your care. It is now your responsibility to ensure that he does not attack another of our own for we cannot be certain that such kindness would be shown upon him again."

"Yes, Jedara." Tom answers.

Jedara lifts his hand in the air and motions for the human to be brought forward. As the Etranyan's move closer, Tom and Ben are able to properly view the human who is still in chains. Neither recognise the human, whose hair is dark, shaggy and long and covers most of his fight. He curses the aliens as he continues to try to fight them.

When he looks up slowly, his brown eyes settle upon the humans and he stops struggling.

"Who the hell are you?" he shouts aggressively.

His Irish accent rings through the air.

"My name is Tom Mason, and this is my son Ben." Tom states. "Please, stop struggling. You're only hurting yourself, and the Etranyan's mean you no harm."

"Is that what you call 'em?" he snaps back, as his arms are pulled behind his back.

"Yes," Tom moves forward.

Jedara prepares to unchain him.

"You're in league with them?" he asks.

Tom nods again. "Yes, I think so. We mean them no harm, and they mean us no harm."

"I say," he darts forward at Tom. "Any human in league with the aliens should be put down with them!"

"Do you wish for me to remove his binds, President Mason?" Jedara asks, looking down upon Tom.

Tom pauses before he shakes his head. "No, thank you, Jedara. I think it will make it easier to get him back to Charleston."

Jedara shoves the man forward carelessly, he nearly trips but manages to steady himself despite that his hands are chained behind his back and his legs are chained together.

"Thank you, Jedara. I assure you, such a misunderstanding won't occur again." Tom says.

Jedara nods before turning his back to them.

Ben grabs onto the chains behind the man's back and begins guiding him forward.

"What the hell are you doing?! Let go of me!" he tries to struggle, to break free again.

It is only now, that Tom looks upon him closer, that he sees this man is stained with dry blood and mud. It's all over his skin and his clothes, it's deep in his nails and he catches remnants in his hair.

"Is that blood? _Human_ blood?" Tom stiffens up.

"Crab blood." he answers.

Tom frowns. "Crab blood? What- I -Why did you attack these new aliens?"

"What'd you think I'd do, when I just happened to come across it? Invite it for tea?" he snaps back.

"Are you seeking refuge in Charleston?" Tom asks.

He needs to know more about this man before he leads him into Charleston.

He shakes his head but says nothing.

"What's your name?" he asks.

He bites down on his bottom lip. "Any human in league with the aliens can go to hell."

"It's a lot more complicated than you think," Ben steps up. "So before you damn us to hell, with the aliens, you might want to learn that there are actually good aliens out there. Aliens willing to help us win this war."

"You're all crazy." he shakes his head.

"What's your name?" Tom repeats.

"Riley." he says finally.

Tom sighs and looks up at Riley.

"Okay, Riley..If we take you into Charleston, get you fitted into a room, give you some food and a shower, can you promise me that you won't attack these aliens again? Wait, before you answer that – I'll sit down with you and tell you everything about these aliens. Everything I know. Do we have a deal?"

Riley shakes his head. "No, we don't."

Tom turns to Ben and nods, indicating that they should be moving on forward now.

"You might change your mind after a warm shower." Tom sighs.

Tom takes the lead, turning back only briefly as Riley replies.

"Doubt it." he answers.

"You can't know that with certainty." Tom answers. "You'll just have to wait and see."

"What makes you think I want to be integrated into Charleston?" Riley asks. "What's left of it but rubble-"

"Like I said, Riley, You'll just have to wait and see." Tom smiles patiently.

Hal sighs loudly with relief when Tom and Ben return through the bushes and shrubbery. They don't speak of the meeting in front of the man in chains, because these meetings and conversations with the Etranyan's and Volm are being kept quiet for now.

"We'll talk later." Tom announces to the small group.

"So, _you_ attacked the aliens?" Captain Weaver addresses the man.

"This is Riley." Tom adds in.

Captain Weaver notes that Riley looks almost wild, the way he still tries to break free of the chains despite their tight grasp and Ben's strong hold.

"No point in fighting that, son. Those chains will hold you, and Ben- he's stronger than you are." Weaver says.

Riley stops fighting. "You can't hold me like this! You've got no authority to do so."

"Actually, we do," Weaver says. "Considering that you're speaking to the President of the New United States."

He turns to Tom who nods at Riley. "It's only until-"

"Piss off!" Riley exclaims. "You are not The President of the United States!" he nearly laughs.

"Yes, I am." Tom says. "I was voted in by the people."

"The people?" Riley asks, a frown still on his voice. "I think that you're forgetting to include a couple more people in this vote. Oh, I don't know...The rest of the United States?"

"This is the New United States." Weaver says.

"I don't really care who you appoint as President. I don't know if the accent gives it away, but I'm not American." Riley says quietly.

"How'd you get here?" Captain Weaver asks.

"A plane." he answers.

Tom frowns. "A plane?"

"Mhm." Riley nods. "Now, how about-"

"What plane?" Tom frowns. "From where?"

"I got on to a flight from Ireland four years ago, and I've been stuck here ever since." Riley answers.

"Right before the invasion?" Tom asks.

"Mhm." Riley nods. "Now, like I was saying – Why don't you just let me go, I'll head back the way I came, and we can call it a day."

Tom shakes his head. "We can't risk you attacking the Etranyan's or the Volm."

"No idea what you're talking about." Riley answers.

"How about..." Hal starts. "We just get him inside, so we can get inside? He can eat, and then go wherever he wants to go?"

"I agree with him." Riley nods. "You can't hold me, I haven't done anything wrong."

"You almost started a second war, with the aliens." Weaver says.

Tom speaks, after considering Hal's words. "Let's just start by getting him inside."

Riley struggles most of the way inside, and is led at the front of the group by Ben so that Tom may speak to the others with privacy. He informs them that Edalark was attacked by the human, and that despite this Edalark still wishes to hold a meeting with Tom Mason inside of Charleston.

Once they near the inner entrance of Charleston, which will lead to the lower level, Riley stops walking and asks, again, that the chains be removed. He is refused, again, because seconds after asking he lunges forward at Tom. He keeps shouting obscenities and curses at the aliens, and any human who would side with the aliens.

But eventually he falls silent and stops talking, almost like he gives up. He becomes easier to drag along, and Tom asks Ben to take him towards the processing rooms.

"I'll process him here." Maggie announces, as they reach the room which is busy enough that there isn't a spare person to process him.

Hal turns towards Maggie, taking several steps in her direction.

He leans in closely towards. "You don't have to do that, Maggie. Your shift isn't until later-"

Maggie shakes her head. "I don't mind. I know what to do."

"When he's done, get him something to eat and then bring him to my office please, Maggie." Tom says.

Maggie agrees. "Okay, Tom."

"I'll see you after?" Hal checks.

She nods, but he can see the uncertainty in her eyes.

"Fine." she answers.

Hal chucks her a brief look before he turns and walks away from her. Ben hands the chains over to Maggie, and then the key, and smiles at her briefly before he also walks away.

"Come on." Maggie guides him into an empty room.

"If I unchain you, can you sit still?" Maggie asks.

He stays silent.

"Riley?"

He looks at her slowly. "Yes."

She unchains his ankles, and then his arms, and places them down onto the wooden desk. She gestures towards the chair, and Riley moves towards it with caution before he slowly sits down on it.

Maggie pulls out a pen and paper. "State your name and age for the record."

"Riley."

"Is that your first name?" she asks.

He gives her silence, so she sighs and writes it down under his first name.

"Age." she says.

He doesn't answer.

"Can you state your age for the record." Maggie questions.

"Twenty eight." he says finally.

"Okay. Location before the invasion?"

"Ireland." he says.

Maggie writes it down. "Location during the invasion?"

He shakes his head. "Not your business."

"It's part of the-"

"I don't care. Not your business or anyone else's." he answers.

"Fine." Maggie sighs. "Occupation before the invasion?"

"Not your business." Riley replies. "Or anyone else's."

A moment of silence passes.

"We done here?" he asks.

"Almost," Maggie answers, "Any relations inside or outside of Charleston?"

He gives her more silence, and as he does Maggie can almost hear his words in her mind.

_Not your business or anyone else's._

She doesn't push him for any more answers.

"Okay. Welcome to Charleston, Riley."

"You, and all the alien-hugging Charleston members, can go to hell." he stands abruptly from his chair.

"We don't hug aliens." Maggie snaps back.

"Yeah, but you don't cut their throats either." he counters. "Then, you watch me like I'm some sort of animal for attackin' an alien. Sorry, we are living in a post apocalyptic world, aren't we? I don't really know the protocol for that – or which aliens I'm supposed to kill and which ones I'm not supposed to touch."

"You should discuss this with Tom." Maggie suggests. "He knows more about it than I do, more than any of us do."

"You ever think maybe that's because he's in league with them?" Riley sharply answers.

"If you ever say that again, I'll jam my knife down your throat." she threatens.

Riley casts a look over her once before he sighs and turns his back on her.

"Alright, alright. So, are you going to take me to talk to the President or not?"

* * *

**A/N: Hello :) I apologise for the late update, it just took me a little while to get around to it and I hope you'll forgive me. Here it is. I hope that you enjoy it, and I know that there really isn't much Maggie/Hal in this at all but I promise that the next two chapters are packed with it :3 **

**I really wanted this chapter to be focused heavily on the civilians (new ones and the ones already in Charleston) as well as a few alien interactions, and how the civilians the aliens are interacting at this point. I hope you like it, I had a lot of fun writing Jedara and Tom's scenes and I can promise more to come. Jeanne's and Weaver's scene didn't really show much except how she is adapting to Charleston, considering she was never a part of it, and how she is trying to help people to adapt..Oh, and like I said in the last A/N (but I just wanted to remind you guys) is that what exactly went down when the Volm came, and what happened with the Etranyan's, will be revealed (in a flashback) I promise! I just, like I said, think it's cool that at the moment you know as much, or as little, as the civilians..**

**Thanks for reading & reviewing, or placing my story as a favourite or following it. It means so much to me, and I hope you like where this is headed.**

**Enjoy! X**


	7. Fear of the unknown

**Disclaimer: Falling skies; is copyright to TNT. All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement is intended, and no money is being made. I claim nothing and own nothing but the laptop I wrote this on, any OC's I have or will include and the storyline (the parts I created of the storyline).**

* * *

Tom paces the room for a moment as he ponders the right words to use to start his conversation with the blood stained man resting before him in an armchair. He exhales deeply and loudly before he finds the correct words to continue with.

"I can understand that, when you came across these new aliens, you would have been scared and fearful. You would have been uncertain of how to react, and so you react with the only way that you know how to, the only way we think we know how to when it comes to aliens - you attacked them." Tom starts.

"Okay, okay..." Riley sighs. "First of all, I just attacked the one. Those bastards pinned me down before I could get anymore. Secondly, I wasn't scared. I was pissed off."

"These new aliens, they landed about three weeks ago - the first lot did anyway. Then the second species did." Tom announces, stepping towards the scotch set out on the table. "Would you like a drink?"

Riley nods, extending his glove hands as he tries to count and keep track of all the aliens.

"So, what you're saying, President Mason...We've got them pincer bastards, an' then there are the dam robots-"

Tom frowns and turns to Riley. "What are you talking about?"

"The ones that have the pincers, and crawl. You know, the crabs?" Riley replies.

Tom's frown deepens with this description.

"When you said crab blood..." he starts.

"Alien blood!" Riley cuts across him. "The ones with the pincers, you know?"

"Oh." Tom sighs. "You mean the skitters?"

A frown spreads over Riley's face, he leans forward in his seat and looks up at Tom.

"What the hell are skitters?"

"The ones you said look like crabs. We call them skitters. And the robots are called Mechs." Tom replies loudly, returning with the two glasses in his hands.

"What?!" Riley snaps. "You've named them properly? What is this, Alien 101? Let me guess, next you're going to pull out a diagram and start showing me about their god damn anatomy."

He drops his head and runs his hands through his dirty hair.

Tom takes a seat in his chair across from sliding, clutches to his own glass and slides one over to Riley who nods thankfully.

"Let me put this simply for you. We have skitters, and inside of the skitter groups are rebel skitters who we are in league with. They are trying to help us remove their controllers" Tom says.

Riley considers these works before he finally speaks.

"Yeah, that's real simple. Aliens controlled by aliens, yet somehow there are rebels. Hm. And, uh, who controls the crabs - the skitters?" Riley asks.

"The Espheni, also know as the Overlords, control the skitters." Tom answers.

"Did I run into the-"

"No," Tom quickly answers. "They were a new species, called the Etranyna. There is a second kind that came down, called the Volm. On top of that, there are mechs, like you said, and small crawly bugs."

"Christ," Riley breathes out heavily. "We're even more outnumbered than I thought. Maybe they're right when they say ignorance is bliss..."

When Tom looks up he finds Tom watching him carefully, his eyes flicker to his scotch and he downs it in a mouthful.

"So, the Esp...The Overlord guys. They control all the crabs and crawlies?" Riley asks.

Tom shakes his head. "No, only the skitters. The Etranyan's, the Volm, and the rebel Skitters want to assist us in wiping out the Esheni."

Riley stands abruptly from the chair. "As entertaining as this has been, I think I've learnt enough for today."

Tom stands seconds later.

"Riley, the survival of the human race depends on us all, on the fighters. You're a fighter, you should understand that. We can give you a bed to sleep in, food to eat, a clean shower and a purpose. You can join our side and fight, and you won't be alone." Tom proposes.

"And, what...In return I can't have a go at these new aliens?" Riley questions.

Tom nods. "Something like that."

He shakes you that. "Can't promise you that."

"Can you at least promise me that you'll try?" Tom asks. "We need to have these aliens on our side. It could mean the difference between losing it all, and winning it back."

"If they stay outta my way, I won't go looking for them. Riley answers. "That's the best I can do."

"That's enough for now." Tom smiles. "Thank you."

But as Riley departs the room and leaves Tom alone to this thoughts, he cannot fight the uneasy feeling inside of him that Riley or another human might try to attack the new aliens and inadvertently start another war.

* * *

Hal finds Maggie long after his shift has finished, despite that he had first searched for her before it had started. He comes across her in the hallway outside her room, after she had shut the door and turned to leave it.

"Maggie." he calls out.

She stops and turns to him quickly.

He jogs lightly and joins her side. "You alright?"

Maggie nods and looks up at Hal. "Yeah. How was your shift?"

Hal almost smiles at this, almost smiles when he thinks of how she constatnly puts everyone else before herself. It's something that he admires about her, something he connects with, and something he has liked most about her.

"Alright." he shrugs. "You had dinner yet?"

Maggie shakes her head. "Nah. You?"

"Nope." he answers, watching her closely. "You want to get something?"

She agrees. "Sure."

Hal joins Maggie's side and they walk in silence for several minutes until he abruptly stops walking, causing her to stop instantly and turn to him. She looks over him carefully, before she meets his gaze.

"What is it?" she asks.

The worry is already etched into her face.

Hal scratches at the back of his head, and drops his head before he briefly looks up at the group passing by. He waits for them to pass until he releases a deeply held sigh and speaks again.

"It's just..." he quietly starts. "Earlier, ah.."

"Hal, don't." she says simply.

A frown crosses his face, he runs his tongue over his dry lip and releases another sigh.

"What I said..I didn't mean it, okay?"

He soon comes to the realisation that she doesn't know what exactly what he's talking about.

"About you not being able to understand." he adds.

She shakes her head. "No, you were right."

"I was just stressed out, alright? I already lost them both once. I mean, I can't even begin to think what it would feel like if that happened again." Hal admits, in a moment of striking honesty and vulnerability.

Maggie finds herself suddenly wishing that they were in the privacy of her room, or his, and not in the middle of Charleston.

She edges in closer, dips her head in, and looks up at him.

"You're not going to lose them again, Hal." she promises. "They're safe here, in Charleston, and they have you – you won't let that happen again."

He looks up at her slowly. "You think so?"

She nods. "Yeah, I do."

Hal ducks his head and sighs, dropping his hands to his pockets.

"I'm sorry." he repeats.

"Don't be," she insists. "You didn't do anything, okay?"

"Okay." he smiles finally.

When he finally meets her warm eyes again, she manages a small smile.

"Come on," she says, stepping back. "Let's get something to eat."

* * *

Tom glances up to the door of his office as it opens and finds Edalark entering, accompanied by a stern looking Weaver. He stands from his seat and moves towards the two of them, a small smile resting on his face as he does.

"Thank you for coming here today, Edalark." Tom says.

Edalark nods at Tom. "Thank you for allowing me to venture inside of Charleston, President Mason."

Tom shares a brief look with Weaver, who shuts the door behind him. He gestures towards the seats before his desk, suggesting that Dan and Edalark should sit down. Weaver moves towards the seat and sits down slowly, his eyes flickering briefly over Edalark who moves stiffly towards the chair. He pauses before he sits down in it, and it is almost a strange sight to see this large alien resting in a chair created by and for humans.

"I understand that you did have a range of questions which you wanted to ask me, President Mason." Edalark says, "So, please, do proceed. I assure you I will try to answer with as much clarity as I can. And if you do not mind, I do have several questions of my own."

"Thank you, Edalark." Tom smiles, taking his seat slowly. "If you would like, you can ask your questions first?"

"I insist that you speak first, Tom." Edalark says patiently.

Tom nods and shares another, brief exchange with Captain Weaver.

"I'll just cut straight to it, Edalark. We don't know if we can trust you, or The Volm. Please, don't misunderstand what it is I'm saying. We want to trust you, and as of yet you have not given us any reason to believe that we should not trust you, but we can't rush this agreement because there is too much at risk for our race."

"I can understand your reluctance, Tom, and I empathise with you and the many losses that your kind have also lost at the hands of the Espheni. How is it that I may show you that our intentions are good?" Edalark answers.

"First, you could tell us more about yourself and your race." Captain Weaver suggestions. "And your continued war with the Espheni."

"I don't quite see how this information that you request on my kind has any relevance to whether our intentions are good or not, Captain Dan Weaver." Edalark says, stiffly turning to the Captain.

"We need to know this sort of information, Edalark." Tom answers, "I do hope you understand."

"Sadly, I do not understand, Tom." Edalark says. "We did not spend years attempting to break the barrier into this world to discuss the histories of the Etranyan's or of Etrikan."

"We can't trust you if we don't know anything about you." Weaver cuts in.

Edalark turns to Weaver again, finding that the Captain shifts slightly in his seat.

"I do not understand why it is such a requirement of yours. We want to wipe out the Espheni race for good, and we want to assist you in winning your war. What else must you know?" Edalark questions.

"You can't expect us to accept your words, use your technology on our children, and trust you without any doubt whatsoever? The last time that aliens descended from the skies they killed millions, took our children and harnessed them, and they destroyed our planet. So, you must understand our hesitance." Captain Weaver angrily says.

Tom steps in. "Please, Edalark. Start by telling us about your war with the Espheni."

"The Espehni attacked without warning and without a reason to do so – the only reason that I can give you, as to why the attacked, is that they are destroyers who move constantly attacking and wiping out species afters species, asserting their power and control over those they consider to be beneath them or weaker than them. They considered us to be beneath them, just as they consider you to be beneath them. We sought refuge in the planet of Eras, a sanctuary, which we were given but unfortunately we only found peace for a small period of time before we were hunted there by the Espheni. We were forced onto our ships and left to orbit your planet until the barrier between your world and the outer worlds was broken – by you, Tom Mason." Edalark replies loudly.

"Your story is very similar to the Volm's story." Tom states. "You did not come to their assistance when they were attacked?"

Edalark takes a moment to respond. "That is not of relevance to this situation."

"It counts towards your reliability. It counts towards whether we can trust or count on you." Weaver answers loudly. "You can't expect us to just trust you without knowing more about you. And if your history shows that you do not come to the assistance of others in trouble, how can we depend on you?"

Edalark stands from the seat, and towers down over Tom and Weaver who both stand seconds later.

"We have learnt all that there is to know about your kind, about the human race. We have watched and observed your darkest moments. Your moments of war in the past. We know all there is about you, and I am quite certain that there are moments you would wish we didn't hold in our knowledge. However, what your past generations and ancestors have done is of absolutely no relevance to us nor does it impact my ability to trust the human race. I was attacked by one of your own only a day ago, and yet my thoughts and judgements of the human race remain the same. Think on that, Tom Mason, and how knowledge or a lack of should not necessarily impact an agreement or an assistance to win this war which has caused heavy losses on your side and ours. If only we could share the same side, then perhaps our losses would not be so great. If you cannot accept these terms, and you do not wish to stand by our side, I will accept your decision – but you must know two things, Tom. The first is; we will try to win this war with or without you. With that said, the second thing that you must know is that it would be preferable to have you as our allies for if we win this war we must determine what next for this planet, and for ours, and we would not wish to receive hostility from the humans for if we are to wipe out The Espheni, and you and I do not have an arrangement, it is highly likely that the rest of the human race will turn on us." Edalark answers loudly.

A tense silence lasts for a moment before Edalark excuses himself, and is escorted out of Charleston by Captain Weaver. By the time that Weaver returns to Tom's office he finds him with a scotch in his hand, a frown on his forehead.

"That went...Well." Tom answers.

"As well as can be expected." Weaver murmurs, before downing his drink.

"I want to trust Edalark, Dan. And Cochise. But it's so difficult." Tom sighs, before he swallows from his glass.

"You have a pretty big decision to make, Tom." Weaver says, pressing a hand against Tom's shoulders. "But I have faith in you. I always have. You always know what to do, what's wrong and what's right. You'll chose the right decision here."

"And if it turns out I chose the wrong decision, down the line?" Tom glances up.

Weaver smiles. "I'll kick your butt back into line, and the Second Mass will be right beside you to help you fix the mess..President Mason."

Tom smiles. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that. It sounds strange."

Captain Weaver pauses. "You'll lead these people into good times, Tom. I know it. Just like you helped lead the people of The Second Mass into good times."

"I could only do that with you by my side, Dan." Tom smiles thankfully.

Weaver nods. "I'm still by your side, Tom. Always will be."

* * *

After he has spotted Hal entering the cafeteria with Maggie by his side, Matt calls out to him loudly.

"Hal!"

Hal turns towards the direction Matt shouts from, and once his eyes settle upon his brother he smiles. He and Maggie walk towards Matt who is sitting, at a table big enough to fit six people, by himself.

"Hey, buddy. What you up to?" Hal asks, nearing closer.

Matt pauses. "Holding the table."

"I can see that." Hal smiles. "For us?"

Matt nods. "For you, Ben, and Dad."

Hal casts Maggie a side look before he turns back to Matt.

"Where's Ben?"

"Oh." Matt sighs. "And for Maggie and Anne, if they want."

Matt turns to Maggie and smiles.

She drops her hands from where they had been resting at the side of her holster. "Sure."

"Right here." Ben joins them unannounced.

Hal quickly turns around to Ben, casting a quick look over him before he meets Maggie's gaze. They share a brief and silent exchange, but Maggie knows what Hal wants; he wants a moment alone with his brother, and she can help him get it.

"Why don't we go line up?" Maggie turns to Matt. "Get a tray for these two. They can hold the table."

Matt nods and smiles.

"Okay." he jumps upwards and joins Maggie's side.

The two move away and towards the lines and trays seconds later.

"He was eager to get away from us." Ben smirks.

"Nah," Hal sighs. "He just wants to be useful, I think."

"Mmm..." Ben murmurs, before he pulls out a chair and sits down. "Dad's not coming."

Hal slides down in a seat across from Ben, glancing up at him slowly as he does.

"Another meeting?" Hal asks.

Ben nods. "Edalark just left, and dad wanted to talk to Captain Weaver."

Hal drops his head slightly and releases a deeply held sigh.

"Ben..." he starts.

"You don't have to say it, Hal." Ben says quickly, knowing what he's going to say before the words pass his lips.

"No, it's just.." Hal clutches his hands together and looks up at his brother. "Be careful. I know, the aliens seem to have some weird, er..."

"Connection with harnessed children?"

"Mm." Hal nods. "Just be careful."

"I will," Ben answers. "I always am."

Hal bites down on his bottom lip and nods again. "Sure."

The silence that follows leaves Hal feeling uncertain of what to do or say, so he doesn't do anything. Instead, he turns away and gazes towards the line of people waiting to be served breakfast. He spots Maggie and Matt laughing in the line, and his lips form a smile at this sight.

Ben breaks the silence.

"Hal?"

Hal's head snaps back towards his brother. "Yeah?"

Ben laughs almost nervously, as he scratches at the side of his head.

"Just, er..." Ben starts quietly.

"What?" Hal leans closer. "What is it, Ben?" he asks, showing genuine concern.

"Be careful, too." Ben says finally, leaning back in his chair as he speaks.

Hal analyses his brother's expression before he finds the words to answer.

"Always am." Hal leans back and smiles easily.

Ben nods and smiles. "Okay."

Maggie and Matt return to the table moments later, with two trays each in their hands. Matt plops up onto the chair next to Ben and pushes his tray towards him.

"Thanks, Matt." Ben smiles, his eyes skimming over the tray.

Maggie places a tray down in front of Hal before she slides down and takes a seat beside him. She turns to look at him and finds that he is already watching her, a small smile on his face.

"Thanks." he says quietly.

She nods. "Dig in."

"What were you two laughing about over there?" Hal glances upwards.

Matt smirks and looks at Maggie briefly before he turns back to look at Hal.

"Nothing." he says, but his grin gives him away.

Hal lifts an eyebrow. "Oh, really? You were laughing pretty hard."

Matt shrugs. "It was nothing."

"Yeah," Maggie agrees. "Nothing for you to worry about."

"I'm not worried," Hal smirks, before pausing. "Okay, so I'm a little worried."

"Why?" Ben looks up. "Are you worried he'll tell Maggie something embarrassing, like how you jumped off of the-"

"Okay." Hal abruptly cuts over him. "How about we eat this, hm? Before it goes cold."

Maggie agrees and nods. "Sure."

They eat their meals quickly, pausing to talk only several times. Matt and Ben keep up most of the conversation, while Maggie and Hal observe and watch on. Hal adds in occasionally but he becomes noticeably quieter and less interested in his surroundings, and his meal, as the minutes pass on.

"You okay, Hal?"

Hal frowns and looks up. "What?"

"I said, you okay?" Matt looks uncertain.

Hal shrugs it off. "Yeah, yeah. I just didn't get much sleep. What, with you snoring and all."

Matt smiles. "I don't snore. You do!"

"How can you know that you don't snore if you're sleeping? Hm? Didn't think that one through, did you?" Hal's smile returns.

Maggie leans back in her chair and watches as the three Mason brothers interact with each other, she watches how they make each other smile, and how strong their bond looks even from a simple observation.

"Back me up, Ben. Hal snores, the loudest out of all of us." Matt turns to Ben.

"Yeah, he does." Ben agrees.

Matt leans forward in his seat. "Like a banshee."

A frown crosses Ben's face.

"Oh, come on." Hal rolls his eyes and leans back in his chair, pushing his bowl forward as he does. "Like a banshee, really? What the hell is that?"

"Um.." Matt draws out. "Like a yeti..."

"Hell...What are they teaching the youth of this world?" Riley, who had been passing by, stops and takes several steps back.

Hal looks over Riley quickly, finding that he still looks just as unkempt as he did earlier and the only difference is that his skin is now free of blood stains. He sighs and leans down towards the group at the table.

"A Yeti is the abominable snowman," Riley cuts in. "Now, a banshee is an Irish legend, the spirit of a female..It was said the spirit wailed to warn of impending death in the household. So, if your brother was indeed wailing like a banshee as you claimed he was it means his possessed, he's being controlled by a spirit of a female and if that was true I'll give you a word of warning: get the hell outta that house because it won't end well."

Matt smiles. "Oh, okay. Thanks."

Riley pauses, casts a glimpse over the four of them, before he turns on his heels and begins moving out of the cafeteria as quickly as he can, muttering something lowly underneath his breath as he does.

"Who was that?" Matt asks, turning to his brothers.

Ben pauses. "The guy that tried to kill the new aliens."

Maggie casts her eyes over the table and stops as she looks down and finds that Hal's right hand, which rests beside his cup, is shaking slightly on the table. She frowns and turns to him, but finds that he isn't looking at her, or his brothers, but is instead gazing off into the distance.

"Er, Hal..." Maggie cuts in.

He turns to her quickly, his hands cease to shake, but the look of emptiness still rests on his face, like he isn't here with her, like even though he's looking at her with his own eyes he's somewhere else, he's seeing someone else's face, he's thinking of different things.

"We gotta go," Maggie says. "We've got that shift."

She expects him to be confused, for him to frown and ask her what she's talking about because they just had their shifts, but he doesn't frown. He agrees with her, nods, and stands from the table quickly.

Hal smiles at Matt and Ben. "See you two."

They smile back. "See you."

Hal starts to lead the way, to draw her towards the procession rooms, but she soon stops him as it becomes aware to her that he believes they have a shift. Maggie steps in front of Hal and settles her hands against his chest, he stops abruptly and looks down at her.

"What?" he frowns slightly. "You okay, Maggie?"

"What's going on with you?" her eyes narrow in on him.

His frown deepens, and a slight smile crosses his features.

"What do you mean?" he answers casually.

"We don't have a shift, Hal." she says slowly. "You just had your shift."

"What? You just said..." he trails off slowly.

"I said that so we could speak alone." she says.

His frown deepens, he steps closer and speaks with a quieter voice. "About what?"

"Can we go to your room?" she asks.

He watches her curiously but agrees anyway, and they move in silence towards the room he and his brothers share. He opens the door and lets Maggie slip in first, he follows after her and closes the door.

When he turns around he finds her watching him, her arms crossed, and a frown already on her face.

"What?" he asks. "Look, if it's about the confusion with the shifts...I didn't sleep great. I'm tired. If Matt told me I had a shift with him, I'd probably believe it." he smirks.

"That's not it." she crosses her arms. "What's going on with you?"

"What?" he replies, "Nothing. Nothing is going on with me. I'm fine."

"You're sure?" she checks.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You were just...Withdrawn at lunch." she answers.

Hal nearly rolls his eyes.

A tired sigh passes his lips, he takes a step away from her and drops his head.

"Don't look for something that's not there, Maggie. There's nothing wrong with me, okay? I'm just tired, that's it. I didn't sleep well. Okay? So drop it, please. I'm fine."

"Fine." Maggie sighs. "Rest."

'Yeah," he sighs and runs his hands up to his creased forehead. "Well..."

He rubs at the skin before he drops his hands to his side.

"I can't do that. I think my dad's going to call a meeting soon." he adds.

Maggie quietly considers his words for a moment.

"Okay, so have a shower, wake yourself up. You can't go walking around like this.."

"Like what?" he asks.

"Like.." she says softly, "You're not in there. Like you're a ghost."

"Fine. I'll have a shower." Hal agrees.

"I'll go talk to Anthony, and see if he knows about any meeting." Maggie answers.

Hal nods and walks into the small bathroom off the side of the room.

"Okay." he answers, without glancing back.

Maggie turns to leave but stops as she glances over the three single beds in the room; none of them are made. The sheets and blankets hang messily off of the beds, the pillows have been thrown around, and it looks unkempt and messy.

She sighs and glances back towards the bathroom door, finding that it is only partially closed and that light slips through the crack.

Hal enters the bathroom slowly, feeling a wave of fatigue draining into his system. He stops as he reaches the small sink against the wall, ducks down and rinses his face with cold water. He glances up slowly to the mirror, and looks at his own pale face, wide-eyed, tired reflection.

A dark flash crosses over his eyes and it's almost like a memory, a picture, returning to him. He feels the beginning of his headache returning, so he drops his head down to the sink again and runs his forehead underneath the water, scrubbing harshly at the skin on his face.

He leans back and looks back to the reflection, and the same feeling of familiarity, the same feeling of a clouded memory slowly returning fragment by fragment, piece by piece, to him settles inside of him. His head tilts back, and to the side, almost against his will and it's almost like he's examining his face, his eye, examining himself.

He shakes himself out of whatever _that _was and turns his back on the mirror.

And that's when the feeling of weariness sweeps through his body, sinks into his bones, and draws him in.

Maggie had spent several minutes fixing up the three Mason brother's beds and sheets, and when she had finished she stopped to listen for the sound of running water but heard nothing. She moves towards the bathroom and knocks on the door, expecting Hal to be wasting time or to have fallen asleep accidentally.

She finds his body on the floor, cold and still.

"Hal." Maggie calls out, dropping to his side instantly.

She leans over him and tries to wake him, taps his cheeks to get a response, an answer, or a sound. He doesn't move, doesn't falter, and she has to check for a pulse to make sure he's still alive.

Relief comes over her in waves when she finds a pulse.

"Hal, come on." she checks him over for any wounds or signs of injury.

She finds nothing.

"Help!" Maggie shouts out loudly.

She can't lift his body, by herself, to the medical rooms.

She needs help, and there should be a guard outside of the room.

"I need help in here!" she yells.

She turns back to Hal and hopes that someone passing by, or that the guard stationed outside of the room, hears her calls for help.

She continues to try and wake him, to shove him, to move his body, but he doesn't respond.

"Come on, Hal. Wake up." she begs.

He doesn't move, he doesn't respond.

Her fear grows and deepens. "Come on, Hal. Wake up. Just wake up."

Maggie hears the sound of loud footsteps but doesn't turn around, she can't focus on anyone or anything else but the crumpled and unresponsive body of her partner before her. She continues to shake him still but with no success, he doesn't wake and he doesn't respond.

"I need help." she shouts out.

"What happened?" Lars joins her.

He kneels down by Maggie's side and leans down over the slumped body on the floor.

"Is he responding?" the guard behind her asks. "Does he have a pulse?"

Maggie spins around. "Go," she pleads, "Go get a doctor. Get someone."

"Did you find him like this?" Lars asks.

Maggie remains silent.

Lars leans forward and checks for a pulse, sighing with relief as his fingers brush against one.

"We have to get him to the med rooms, now." Lars instructs.

Maggie shoots him a look. "The guard will bring the doctor here."

"And they'll just have to carry him to the med rooms. We're wasting time waiting, Maggie." he says.

She pauses before she nods. "Fine! Help me lift him up."

Lars nods and does what she asks, he slides his hands beneath Hal's left shoulder, Maggie places her hand beneath his right, and they drag his body upwards. Lars scoops him up into his arms easily, for he is far bigger than Hal in height.

"Get the door." Lars instructs, as he moves out of the bathroom.

Maggie moves quickly past Lars and opens the door for him to fit through, he steps through it easily.

"Careful." Maggie says. "Just, be careful, okay?"

He lifts Hal carefully through the door and then halts.

"What way to the med rooms?" he asks.

Maggie takes the lead. "This way."

They move in complete silence until, when they are only several feet away from the med rooms, Lourdes approaches them with the Charleston guard by her side. She wears a worried expression on her face as her eyes settle down on Hal.

"Maggie," she calls out. "What happened?"

"I came in, and he was – he was unresponsive on the ground." Maggie answers.

Lourdes looks over him quickly. "Did he hit his head?"

"I think so." she nods.

Lourdes leads them towards the medical rooms, and once inside the main doors she turns to Lars.

"Take him through this way." she says.

Lars follows her quietly, with Maggie right on their tails. He passes through blue curtains and steps inside a small room, taking several small steps forward he sets Hal down carefully on the bed.

"He's going to be okay, right?" Maggie asks.

Lourdes is joined by several other staff of the med rooms, who move quickly inside.

"I don't know right now, Maggie. He should be but I can't promise anything. Please, I need the two of you to step outside." Lourdes answers firmly.

Maggie doesn't move an inch away from Hal's bedside.

"Maggie..." Lars starts, pressing a hand on her shoulder.

She slides away from him and moves towards the curtains, stepping through them without a second glance back at Hal or the doctors who tend to him. Lars shuts the curtains behind him and releases a heavy sigh, he inches towards Maggie's side and the two stand in a tense and almost awkward silence.

Lars doesn't know what to say, and Maggie doesn't have anything to say, so they say nothing for now.

Despite her silent appearance, Maggie's thoughts are loud and running wild with painful possibilities and scenarios. Through all of that, she can only hold onto hope because it's all they have in this world.

* * *

**A/N: Hi! Thanks for reading my story, I hope you're enjoying all of the alien interactions & human interactions so far, and I can promise that there will be more of both in future chapters. I can't wait for this story to continue and for you guys to find out all the cool stuff I have in store :3 (I think it's cool anyway) I know at the moment things are pretty slow, but soon enough they'll get moving and...You'll just have to wait and read.**

**Thanks again for reading & a special thanks to; ****mosh2themusic, Geekman-1 and Alwaysforeverbaseball and an extra special thanks to mosh2themusic :3 & kili-grabmyhand for not only being constantly supportive of me, and of my stories, but for also allowing me to bounce a couple ideas around. (and for being awesome).**

**Anyway, here's the new chapter.**

**Thanks & enjoy!**


	8. The consequences of chaos

**Disclaimer: Falling skies; is copyright to TNT. All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement is intended, and no money is being made. I claim nothing and own nothing but the laptop I wrote this on, any OC's I have or will include and the storyline (the parts I created of the storyline).**

* * *

The wait for news on Hal had been a long, anxious, and mostly silent one for Maggie. She had only spoken a few times, the first was to tell Lars he didn't have to stay to which he replied that he didn't mind. The second time was in response to his question about whether Hal's family, if he had any, should be called down. She responded no, not right now, she didn't want to stress them out.

Maggie knew that it wasn't her call to make, and that she wasn't a part of the Mason family and so she had no right to decide whether or not they should be informed about Hal's current situation but she also knew that Tom was under such heavy stress at the moment, and she didn't want to place this upon him if it turned out to be nothing serious.

Quite some time passes before Lars speaks again.

"You want anything?" Lars asks, leaning down over her.

She shakes her head and keeps her arms crossed over her stomach.

"No." she answers quietly.

"You sure?" he checks, glancing down at her.

She gives him more silence, but he knows her answer.

"Fine," Lars nods. "If you say so.."

They wait in more silence, until eventually Lourdes exits through the curtains.

"How is he?" Maggie moves quickly towards her.

Lars follows after her, remaining closely by her side.

"Hal's awake and he's responding quite well. However, there are two very serious possibilities that could occur here. The first is there could be bleeding on the brain, it is a very serious possibility. The next is that he could have a concussion which could lead to permanent or even a temporary loss of brain function. We'll need to get him in for a CT scan now. It won't take long, and then we'll know how to proceed." Lourdes answers.

"You said he's responding.." Maggie starts.

"What usually happens in cases like this, the patient responds at first and then later feels the effect of the concussion – or the bleeding on the brain builds up until he reaches a point where he might pass out." Lourdes says softly, "Don't worry, Maggie. We'll take care of him, I promise."

Only minutes after Hal had been wheeled out and down towards the scans, with Lourdes and several other doctors, does Maggie hear a familiar voice behind her.

"Maggie." Tom calls out.

She shuts her eyes and curses silently.

Out of all the times that Tom could come here, it had to be now.

"What are you doing in here?" he frowns. "I was on my way-"

Maggie turns slowly and rigidly towards Tom, her lips part but before the words can come out Lars speaks.

"Nope, it's just the two of us." Lars says quickly. "She's waiting with me before my check-up."

Tom frowns slightly. "What? Where's-"

"Hal volunteered to head outside, let the guys know I can't pick up my shift." Lars states.

Tom pauses noticeably. "Okay, well, when you see Hal will you let him know – and anyone else you come across, that there's going to be a meeting tomorrow morning and it's mandatory to attend."

"Sure." Maggie says.

"Thanks." Tom smiles. "Have either of you seen Anne?"

Maggie shakes her head. "Nah. She's not here."

Tom's smile remains. "That's okay..Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

He turns towards Lars, extending his hand as he does.

"Lars." he answers.

"Pleasure to meet you, Lars. And I hope whatever you're here for works out." Tom smiles kindly.

Lars returns the smile. "So do I."

With that, Tom turns away without a second glance back and leaves the two of them standing in a momentary silence.

"You didn't have to do that." Maggie starts.

Tom will have to find out eventually what happened to Hal, and they just lied to him when Hal was only down the hallway.

"Yeah, well..." Lars sighs. "I figured he was Hal's dad, and whatever reason you wanted to keep this from him must have been a good one."

Maggie sighs and turns away. "Tom has a lot on at the moment."

"Hey, you don't have to explain it to me." Lars shoves his hands into his pockets. "I get it. Some things are better left unsaid."

"Mm." she murmurs.

She only hopes that Hal makes it out of this situation fine, and that they won't have to place further stress and worry upon the shoulders of the Mason family.

* * *

"Hey, Matt." Anthony smiles, as he passes Matt moving into the cafeteria.

"Hey." Matt shoots him a smile. "Have you seen my dad?"

"Yeah, I think he's scheduled for a meeting. Why? Did you need to see him?" Anthony asks.

Matt shakes his head.

"Nope. Have you seen Hal or Ben?" Matt asks, his eyes skimming over the cafeteria in search of his brothers.

"Nope, sorry, man." Anthony pats Matt's shoulder. "You need anything?"

"No, I'm good." Matt answers.

"You sure?"

"Yep." Matt smiles.

Anthony nods. "I gotta go. See you round, little man."

"See you." Matt calls out, turning back to the cafeteria.

He lines up, gets his tray of food, and then looks for a place to seat. Most of the tables are full, with families and groups of civilians and fighters, and then Matt spots a somewhat familiar face.

The man that stopped by his table earlier, and corrected him about what a Banshee was. The man that Ben said almost killed the new aliens. Matt's interest in this man grows, as he knows nothing about the new aliens and would love to find out.

Matt all but rushes over towards the empty table that the man sits half bent over at, his eyes narrowed in and focused on the tray of food before him.

"Can I sit here?" Matt asks.

He doesn't look up, and instead shrugs carelessly. "Mm."

Riley bites into his apple and continues to gaze off into emptiness.

"You're new here, aren't you?" Matt asks curiously, sliding slowly into the seat across from him. "My name's Matt."

He doesn't answer, doesn't look at Matt, and continues on eating his apple.

"The apples are good, huh?" Matt questions.

"Mm." he grunts.

"Is this seat taken?" a young boy approaching the table asks.

Matt glances up, casts his eyes over the new face, before he shakes his head.

"Nope." he answers.

The boy slides in, sets his tray down, and looks up at Matt with light blue eyes. "I'm Albert Miller."

"Cool." Matt smiles. "I'm Matt Mason. Are you new here?"

"Yep." Albert nods. "I just came in this morning."

"Are you here alone?" Matt asks.

Albert shakes his head before he takes a sip of his drink. "No, but they're all sleeping."

"You're here with your family?" Matt asks.

"Yeah." Albert nods, he pauses before he glances up at Riley. "Are you two brothers?"

Riley shakes his head quickly, finally looking up at the two boys. "No, no. We are not. I don't have a family."

"You don't have a family?" Albert asks. "That's sad."

Riley shrugs, and continues to eat his apple. "Not really."

"What's your name?" Matt asks.

A frown crosses over Riley's features. "Why do you care?"

"I'm curious." Matt shrugs.

"Curiosity killed the cat, kid." he counters.

Matt smirks. "Luckily, I'm not a cat."

Riley takes another bite of his apple.

"Really? I couldn't tell." he leans back in his chair and sighs.

A moment of silence rises between the three but only lasts seconds as Matt is far too curious to not ask the questions rising in his minds.

"Did you really attack those new aliens?" Matt asks.

Albert stiffens up, his voice rises and a look of fear darts across his face. "What new aliens?"

"Sh, sh, sh." Riley leans in quickly. "Don't go speaking of such things, boys. You'll start a god damn riot, an' if anyone is going to start one it shouldn't be either of you."

Matt only remains silent for several seconds. "Is it true that you tried to fight the new aliens?"

Riley sighs and leans in closer. "What's it to you?"

"I'm just asking." Matt counters.

He frowns. "What are you, seven?"

"Nine." Matt replies quickly.

It dawns upon Riley now, as he remembers Matt announcing his last name as Mason.

"Wait- Are you Mason's boy? President Mason-" Riley starts.

"Yeah. So?" Matt cuts over him quickly, and almost defensively. "What's it to you?"

"Just askin' – I do believe you used that excuse only several moments ago, so it's only fair I can use it once." Riley answers.

Albert cuts in. "What new aliens?"

Matt turns to Albert and smiles. "My dad's going to speak about it with everyone tomorrow morning. Don't worry, my brother said that he thinks they're good."

"Christ." Riley exhales deeply. "Because your brother, who is nowhere near qualified enough to make an assumption about the motives of the aliens or whether they are indeed good or not, _thinks_ that they are good means that they are and sothat automatically defines them as being good? The youth of this world have no hope."

Matt ignores his words and asks another question that was on his mind. "Did you kill it?"

He shakes his head once. "Almost."

"What do they look like?" Matt asks curiously.

"Are they scary?" Albert asks.

Riley sighs with frustration and drops his apple onto his tray, he leans further in on his chair and looks between the two boys.

"I didn't get a clear..shot. Listen here, kid...When I finally kill one, and I drag it's damn body back in here...I'll bring it to your personally, so you can take a look." he suggests.

Matt pauses. "My dad said you weren't supposed to go after them."

"What you need to learn..." Riley starts, standing slowly from his chair. "All aliens are chaos. Now, chaos doesn't just sit and wait, it brews, and it builds, and then it bursts – it attacks. Those aliens – they embody chaos. The chaos that they are is going to come for us, it's as inevitable as death is. And when they do come, I'll be ready. You should be too."

* * *

When Lourdes finally returns with news of Hal, Maggie stands immediately from the chair she had been resting in beside Lars, and moves towards her side. She finds that there are no deep lines of marks of worry or grief on Lourdes face, so she feels some relief at knowing that things aren't as bad as she thought that they might be.

"How is he?" Maggie asks instantly.

"The CT scan was clear," Lourdes announces. "There were no signs or indications that Hal suffered anything but possibly a mild concussion from the fall. No serious or permanent damage has been done. He's awake and alert, his vision has remained unaffected and he hasn't suffered any nausea or dizziness. The only thing that I am concerned about is that the effects of the concussion could hit him at a later time, so it is best if he stayed in here over night."

Lourdes pauses and draws in a breath of air.

"Will you be able to stay with him through the night, Maggie?"

Maggie nods and crosses her arms. "Yes."

Lourdes smiles. "Okay. You'll need to observe him closely for any signs of deeper injury. I'll stop by as frequently as I can, as will the other staff. When he rests, he needs to be woken every two hours to check for alertness. Ask him specific questions that require specific answers. If he behaves differently or abnormally, you'll recognise it before any nurse of doctor could – you know him better than they do. But like I was saying, if he behaves differently you should alert someone immediately."

"Okay." Maggie nods. "Is that it?"

She pauses. "There is one problem."

Maggie speaks quickly. "What?"

"Hal has refused to stay in the hospital overnight."

An angered and unimpressed expression crosses her face. "What?"

Lourdes shifts in her stance. "Despite my persistent attempts to convince him that this was the best place for him, he was adamant that he didn't want to stay in here and would rather return to his bedroom for the evening."

"But it's safer for him to be in here?"

"Yes." she nods. "But...Ultimately, it's his choice and we can't hold him against his will."

"Yeah," Maggie pauses, "We'll see about that."

She turns on her heels quickly and moves towards the room which Hal had been moved into, leaving Lars and Lourdes standing almost awkwardly in her absence.

"I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting." Lars smiles, looking down at her as he does.

"Hi, I'm Lourdes." she extends her hand.

He moves to shake her hand but realises that his hands are dirtied from the construction and rebuilding of the outer-town. Quickly, Lars wipes his hand on the side of his pants to rid it of the dirt and mess.

"Lars." he holds out his hand again.

She smiles and shakes it. "Well, Lars..."

Lourdes pulls her hand away and tucks it into her pocket. "I hope I don't see you around here again."

A kind smile crosses her face, a frown forms on his.

"Er...I'm sorry?" he asks.

"Because that would mean that you were injured or sick, and we've already got too many people down at the moment." she says, taking a slight step backwards as she does.

Lars considers her words. "Maybe, I'll get hurt just so I can come in here."

"Really?" she frowns. "Why would you do that?"

"I like it in here." he shrugs.

"Really?" she crosses her arms. "Why?"

"It's calm and quiet." he says. "I mean – I like it out here. I don't like being in the hospital beds, with all the monitors and stuff attached to me. I don't like that at all."

She smiles kindly still. "It's not usually this calm or quiet..And, like I said, I hope I don't see you around here again. Charleston is going to need all the fighters it can get in the coming months, so don't go getting hurt."

"Yes, ma'am." he returns the smile.

"Oh, and Lars?" Lourdes stops and turns back around.

"Yeah?" he looks up.

"Hal's scan was clear, he's fine, and there's nothing to worry about. He's the third patient we've had in here who has passed out this week alone, it's a combination of stress, lack of sleep and lack of eating. Will you tell Maggie that he's going to be fine?"

Lars nods. "Will do."

* * *

Hal glances up from where he rests on the hospital bed to find Maggie slipping through the curtains to his room.

He smiles weakly at her, his eyes lighting up as he sees her - she doesn't return the smile.

"You're staying in here tonight." she says sternly and loudly.

"It's good to see you too.." he murmurs, his smile faltering.

"Hal," she crosses the room and moves to his side.

"You're staying in here tonight. I don't care what you say."

"Don't I get a say in this?" he sits upwards.

"No, you don't." she shakes her head.

Hal releases a loud sigh of frustration and drops his head back down against his pillow.

"I don't get you sometimes." he quietly admits.

"Yeah?" she lifts an eyebrow. "Why is that? What don't you get?"

"You'd climb the damn building to get out of a hospital, and I get that, but when I say I don't want to be in here you..." he starts but falls into a low mumble, and eventually stops talking.

"What?" she asks.

"It's nothing." he shuts his eyes.

"No, Hal. What?" she pushes him.

"You don't seem to get it. I may not hate hospitals as much as you do, but I don't like them." he opens his eyes slowly.

"That's why I'm staying with you." she says quietly.

"That..that doesn't change anything. It doesn't make me feel better, it doesn't make me forget that Dai and I were brought in here but only one of us came out. It doesn't make me feel any better, Maggie, having you here doesn't change how I feel."

She stiffens up, exhales softly, and takes a step backwards. "I'll see what I can do."

He watches quietly as she all but storms out of the room, in search of Lourdes to see if there is an alternative solution to this situation.

"Maggie. Margaret." Lars calls out, just managing to catch up with her. "Whoa, slow down. What, is Hal not okay?"

She stops abruptly and turns to him, a look of impatience resting on her tired face.

"What is it, Lars?"

"Just a message from Lourdes." he says.

She frowns.

"The doctor." he says slowly.

She fights the urge to roll her eyes.

"I know who she is, Lars." she snaps back. "What's the message?"

"Er..Something about Hal being the third patient in here this week who passed out, and that you shouldn't worry about it because his scans were clear." he says.

"Okay." she moves to step away.

"What's going on?" he moves with her, blocking her path. "You're all speedy and cranky."

"Not your business." she snaps back.

Lars continues regardless of the fact that it isn't his business.

"I'll just take a guess and say Hal is being stubborn, doesn't want to stay in here." he says.

He watches as her frown only deepens.

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Just a guess." he shrugs. "Some people hate hospitals, others can't stand being in them."

"Yeah..Well..." Maggie sighs and briefly shuts her eyes.

"Do what's best, what's right. It usually works out." Lars shrugs.

She opens her eyes again and shoots him another look. "That's reassuring."

"Life is full of doubt, sweetheart." he smiles at her.

"Get out of here." Maggie moves and shoves him away. "I don't need you in here any more."

"Ah. The key word of that statement being 'any more'." he catches a hint of smile playing on her lips. "You don't need me now, but you did need me before."

"I'm not going to say it, if that's what you're waiting for." she states.

He shakes his head quickly. "I'm not waiting for it, but I can see it in your eyes."

"Go!" she shoves him away, the smile breaking out on her face. "Get out of here."

He smirks and turns away. "As you wish, Maggie."

"You want to get out of here?" Maggie returns to the room silently.

It is only as she speaks that Hal is alerted to her presence. He opens his eyes and he half sits upwards, settling his gaze upon her and watching her curiously.

"Yeah." he answers with uncertainty.

"You can leave," she begins.

He breathes a sigh of heavy relief and manages a small smile.

"Tomorrow morning." Maggie adds.

His relief vanishes, the smile fades, and uncertainty returns to his eyes.

His lips part like he might object, like he might shout at her or refuse this, like he might tell her that he doesn't understand her again and talk about how hard it is being in here but he doesn't have a choice and neither does Maggie.

Lars' words replayed in her head for several minutes until she finally came across her answer; keeping Hal in here for the night, regardless of whether he wanted it or not, was best for him, it was the right thing to do.

"Do you know what caused this?" she cuts over him.

A frown settles back in on his face.

'I don't know..." he sighs and rests his head back down against his pillow.

He keeps his eyes on her, watching her closely as she takes several small steps towards his bedside.

Maggie crosses her arms. "Lourdes said it's a combination of stress, lack of eating and lack of sleeping."

"I've been eating." he sits upwards. "Maggie, I'm fine. I am."

"You will be, if you stay in here tonight."

"Maggie..." he sighs again.

She inches closer and speaks with a softer voice. "It's just one night, Hal. That's it."

"If I remember correctly..." he looks up at her. "You barely lasted a day in the bed before you were out on patrol than me. And what happened to you was much worse, your stitches had been pulled out. You were risking a lot more than I was."

"You hit your head on the tiles, Hal." she sharply snaps back. "You're lucky you didn't suffer a worse concussion, or that you didn't get a bleed on your brain. You're still at risk, so you have to stay in. It's just one night. Okay?

"One night?" he checks, sighing because he knows he's going to give in to her.

"Yes." she nods. "Just one night."

"Fine."

* * *

Hal spends the night talking with Maggie, and it's not that he doesn't enjoy spending time with her because he does, he enjoys and cherishes his time with her, but the questions that she constantly asks him soon become repetitive.

"Tell me the name of your brothers." she instructs.

"Maggie..." Hal sighs with frustration. "This is beyond the point of being repetitive."

"Answer." she looks at him sternly.

He gives in and throws his head back against the pillow.

"Ben and Matt Mason." he shuts his eyes.

She looks at him from the chair she'd pulled to his bedside. "And your father's name?"

"Tom Mason."

She doesn't ask him any other questions about his family, because she doesn't want to bring up the painful reminder of the loss of his mother, despite that a part of her knows he's probably thinking of her anyway.

"Your name." she says.

"Hal."

"Where did Tom teach, before the invasion?" she asks.

This question is new, and surprises him because he didn't expect her to know this about his family.

Hal's eyes open. "Boston University."

"Did you have any pets?"

"No." he answers.

Maggie pauses. "What sports did you play?"

"Lacrosse." he half smiles.

She manages a small smile in response, it's the best that she can do in a situation like this, a situation when she was so worried and stressed for Hal and still is.

The next question causes his smile to widen with disbelief.

"Name the aliens on this planet."

"Really?" he nearly laughs.

Maggie nods. "Really."

"Do you want to know what I think?" he asks.

She lifts an eyebrow. "Tell me."

"I think that it's kind of unfair that you get to ask me all these questions about you, when I don't even know your last name." he answers, the smirk still clear on his face.

She doesn't falter. "Name the aliens."

"Fine." he sighs with frustration, shutting his eyes as he does. "Fish-heads, skitters, harnesses..and mechs."

He pauses.

"And?" she pushes for more.

"Crawlies," he says, remembering the bugs in the hospital.

"And?"

"The eye-worm things..That my dad..Um. And the new ones." he says, his eyes slowly opening.

"Specific names." she says.

"God," Hal snaps back unintentionally, "I don't know."

She shakes her head, and answers with a firm voice.

"You do know. Think on it, Hal."

"The Etranyan.." he sighs. "And Volm."

"Good." she says finally. "What's my name."

His smile returns, it is a real smile, a kind smile, a smile that causes her heart to flutter and a smile to spread on her own lips.

"Margaret." he says quietly.

She stays silent for a moment longer than she'd intended to. "And with Ri-ta it was love at first sight at..."

"Jazz pants." his grin widens. "How do you even remember that?"

"It wasn't that long ago." she answers.

Hal sighs. "It feels like it was."

"Well, it wasn't." she says.

"I can't believe you remember that. And you know where my dad taught."

"Ben was talking about it, couple months ago..." she shrugs.

Hal pauses, his eyes settling on her as he does. He watches her closely and silently for a minute.

"What?" she frowns slightly, but the smile stays on her face.

"You okay?" he asks.

"I'm not the one in the hospital bed." she counters.

"Yeah, I know..." he exhales slowly. "I mean, I'm sorry.."

"You didn't do anything." she shrugs it off. "You just need to take better care of yourself."

"No, that's not what I meant." he replies.

"What, Hal?"

"I meant that I'm sorry..." he says quietly, "I was frustrated, I didn't want to stay in here. I didn't even think how this would feel for you."

"It's fine." she insists.

Disbelief crosses his face.

"Is it?"

"Hal." she releases another sigh. "I'm okay. I'm just worried about you."

"Yeah, well, don't be." he looks at her still. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Good." she leans back in her chair, "I'll hold you to that."

He smirks. "Good."

"Get some rest. I'll wake you in a little bit." she insists.

He shuts his eyes without a fight, because he needs to rest. "Alright.."

Several seconds of silence pass before a soft voice breaks the silence.

"Maggie..." he whispers.

She sits up straighter in her chair.

"What is it, Hal?"

He keeps his eyes shut.

"You never asked."

Her brow creases. "What?"

She doesn't understand.

"You forgot a question."

A small smile plays upon her lips. "Oh, yeah. What's that?"

"With Rita..." he starts.

"What?" she pushes, when he falls silent. "Hal, are you okay-"

"With Rita it was love at first sight, at Jazz pants," he says. "I knew."

"Yeah. What's your point?" her frown deepens further. "You're not speaking clearly, Hal."

"You didn't ask me how I knew, with you."

She swallows tightly, feels her breathing hitch, as her hands grip the railings of the chair she rests on but she doesn't answer.

"You didn't ask what it was.." he says.

"Hal, you're tired." she finally manages to say. "You don't know what you're saying."

He takes this as a hint that she isn't ready to hear this, that maybe she doesn't want to hear this.

"Fine."

She leans back in her chair, bites down on her lip, and briefly shuts her eyes as she wonders silently why the hell she didn't let Hal continue just then, and what she was so afraid that he might say.

* * *

**A/N: Hi :) thank you for taking the time to read my story. I hope you are enjoying it so far, and where it's headed. This chapter is mostly Maggie and Hal (I really enjoyed writing those scenes) with a few interactions on the outside (Matt and Riley. Tom & Maggie briefly.) because I really wanted to focus on the two of them and how their relationship at the moment is still a little uncertain. Also, I wanted to pull in Lars character and show how he and Maggie started to become buddies. Anyway, I hope you like chapter 8.**

**Guest reviews:**

**Guest 8/1/13 . chapter 7: **Dear, Guest :) thank you so much. I'm so happy that you love it so much, and I hope you enjoy this new chapter. Thanks for reading and reviewing, it means so much to me. x

**Chloroy 8/1/13 . chapter 1: **Hello, Chloroy :) Thank you so much for reading & reviewing my story. I hope you enjoy this update, and what's going on with Hal will be revealed shortly. I really enjoyed writing Maggie showing her concern of Hal, so I'm glad you enjoyed reading it. Thank you x

**HannahCunningham 7/31/13 . chapter 7: **Hey, HannahCunningham :) Thank you for reading and reviewing my story, it means a lot to me and I hope you enjoy chapter 8. x

**Guest 8/6/13 . chapter 7: **Dear, Guest :) thank you very much. I'm very happy to read that you are loving it, and you think it's interesting so far. Yes, haha. You did spell the Etranya correct. I guess you'll just have to wait and find out why they're here. :) What's happening to Hal will be revealed shortly. Haha, no don't apologise for speculating. Speculate all you want! I do it all the time. Yes, Riley's mentioning of the Banshee being a legend about a female spirit wailing to warn of impending death is definitely a link back to Karen. You'll just have to wait & in time you'll see how that is. Thanks. Enjoy the latest chapter. x

_**A special thanks to mosh2themusic, JoyScott13, kili-grabmyhand, Alwaysforeverbaseball, Hot Chocolate is Yummy, SupernaturalCheetahFast and all of the kind Guest reviewers. :)**_

**Thanks for reading & I hope you enjoy!**


	9. Counting your blessings

**Disclaimer: Falling skies; is copyright to TNT. All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement is intended, and no money is being made. I claim nothing and own nothing but the laptop I wrote this on, any OC's I have or will include and the storyline (the parts I created of the storyline).**

* * *

The sound of footsteps fading causes Hal's eyes to open slowly. He wakes to find an empty chair by his bedside where Maggie had previously rested, his eyes skim the room quickly in search of her but he finds only emptiness.

"Maggie?" he calls out.

The curtains slide open and Lourdes enters, a smile on her face.

"Hi, Hal." she says softly. "How are you feeling?"

He fails to hide his disappointment that Maggie didn't step through the curtains, but still manages a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine." he scratches at his forehead. "Where's Maggie?"

"She just stepped out for a minute." Lourdes answers vaguely.

A frown crosses Hal's face, but he doesn't push Lourdes for answers. Instead, he props his body up slowly and moves to swing his legs over the side of the bed. He regrets this movement immediately as his head spins and aches as a result of the fast and unexpected movement.

"Whoa," Lourdes moves quickly to his side. "Take it easy, Hal."

"Why?" he asks.

She frowns slightly. "You do know where you are, don't you?"

Hal exhales. "Yeah, I'm in the hospital."

"Why?" she pushes.

He pauses and tries to remember the reason, to recall why it is he is here. His memory is a little hazy, and foggy but it soon comes to him.

"I passed out."

"And you hit your head, pretty hard." Lourdes adds.

His eyes close. "Is everyone else okay?"

Lourdes' frown deepens. "Is who okay, Hal?"

He sighs with annoyance and scratches at his forehead.

"I don't know, like..." he starts quietly, "My dad, Ben...Maggie."

"They're all fine, Hal." she answers.

"What about Anthony and Dai?" he asks.

And it is only as those words echo in the air that it comes back to him, that he seems to realise that he isn't here because of what happened in the warehouse, he's here for another reason.

Concern crosses over Lourdes' face, she sighs softly and settles a hand against Hal's shoulder.

"Hal..."

He looks up quickly. "Yeah, yeah...I know. Dai's dead. Look, that just slipped out.."

"You fell and hit your head on tiles." Lourdes says. "The warehouse was over three weeks-"

"Yeah, I know that. Alright?" Hal unintentionally snaps.

He brushes her hand away and tries to lower himself down off of the bed, he finds his legs unsteady and Lourdes manages to stop him from falling. She grabs him by the shoulders and helps him to lean against the edge of the bed.

"You have to take it easy, Hal." she instructs. "You're still unsteady."

"What's going on?" Maggie calls out, entering the curtains swiftly.

"Maggie, could you please stay here with Hal for a moment." Lourdes turns to her.

Hal immediately shakes his head. "That's not necessary."

A line of worry has already creased over Maggie's brow.

"What's going on?" she asks, moving closer.

"I just need to speak with Dr Glass." Lourdes announces.

"You can't involve her on this," Hal says quickly. "My dad, he doesn't-"

"I have to, Hal. Please, stay here with him, Maggie." Lourdes says, and with that she leaves.

"Hal..." Maggie takes her place beside him in seconds. "What happened?"

"I was tired, alright? I didn't sleep well." he answers lowly.

Maggie places a hand on Hal and steadies him as he moves back against the bed. He breathes out heavily and finally turns towards her, his eyes settling down on her slowly. He allows her hand to remain against his shoulder, watching her quietly for a moment before he responds.

"I asked about Dai. I don't know...I must have dreamt about the warehouse, or something. It's nothing." he answers.

Maggie pauses noticeably. "Does Lourdes think there was damage done-"

"There was no damage done, Maggie." he snaps sharply. "Okay? I'm fine. I don't need another check up, or anything like that. What I need to do is get out of this damn room and go to my dad's meeting."

"Hal." she begins softly.

He shakes his head. "I stayed through the night. You said one night-"

"You were talking about the warehouse, Hal." she whispers. "That was three weeks ago. Something isn't right."

"You don't know what I was talking about, you weren't here." he bites back with an unintended harshness.

Their conversation is quickly interrupted by Anne's kind voice.

"Hal." Anne smiles kindly, as she steps through the curtains. "How are you doing?"

Lourdes follows after her, accompanied by another Charleston doctor.

Hal rolls his eyes, shoves Maggie's hands off his shoulder. He straightens himself up and breathes out heavily.

Maggie simply watches him.

"I'm fine, Anne. I don't need another scan." he states. "What I need is to get out of here."

"I can understand your frustration, Hal, but what I need you to do is take a seat so we can take a look at you." Anne says softly.

"There's nothing wrong with me." he answers confidently.

"You spoke like-" Anne begins.

"Like it was the morning after the warehouse, right?" Hal asks.

Anne nods. "Yes."

"I don't know..." he inhales sharply. "I guess I must have dreamt of it. But I'm fine. I know that Dai's dead, and I know that the warehouse was over three weeks ago. Okay?"

"Hal," Anne moves to his side.

Maggie takes backwards so that she's out of the way, her eyes never leave Hal.

"I can't let you leave, Hal. I'm concerned about you-" Anne says.

"Lourdes said it herself, yesterday." Hal cuts over them. "It was a combination of stress, and a lack of sleeping and eating. I haven't been eating lately, or sleeping. And the stress...Well, that's kind of expected considering the new aliens species..."

"You need to take it easy." Lourdes adds.

"You can't hold me in here, can you?" Hal glances between them.

Lourdes shakes her head simply. "No, we can't."

"Then, I'm leaving." he stands quickly.

Maggie shoots him a look. "Hal, please."

He meets her gaze hesitantly, before turning back to Anne.

"What tests do you have to do?" he asks, "Another CT scan that comes up clear?"

"Yes," she agrees. "We'd just like to do one more scan. That's all."

"Fine." he gives in. "But, when it comes up clear I'm out of here."

* * *

Hal's scan comes up clear, as he thought that it might, and despite Anne's and Lourdes objections that he should stay for the remainder of the day he leaves. Maggie joins his side, she doesn't say much and he can tell that she isn't happy with him, but she doesn't intend to leave him alone today.

She'll keep a close eye on him, watch him carefully, and if there is even the slightest indication that not everything is okay then she will drag him back to the medical rooms.

They make their way towards the large podium, around which groups of Charleston members have formed and begun taking their seats. Maggie guides Hal through the crowd, determined that she find a seat for him to rest in so he doesn't have to stand for too long. He needs to take it easy, even if he doesn't think so.

She leads him down towards the third row from the front, and takes a seat down beside him. He doesn't attempt to make conversation during the wait for Tom to take to the stage, and she doesn't either. Maggie prefers this silence for now, as she finds that it allows her to find some sort of calm, and it stops her from telling Hal how stupid and stubborn he is being.

They only wait a few more minutes before Tom takes the stage, and as he does the Charleston crowd cheers and claps for him.

"Good morning, to you all." Tom starts. "I can say, that looking upon you all...The new and old members of Charleston, is a truly great feeling. You, and I, are living proof that when we pull together we are stronger, and that we can always count on each other. We are proof that it doesn't matter who we are, if we join each other, if we stand by each other's sides we can be stronger, we can be better people than we were before. We can stand against the enemy together."

Tom pauses before he releases a sigh, and straightens up.

"Thank you all for attending this meeting today. As you would have learnt, I did call this meeting as mandatory – but this is only because I wanted you all to learn, at the same time what I am about to tell you. And most importantly, I wanted you to hear it from my mouth." Tom sighs. "We are not alone in this world as we once thought we were, only three years ago. There are species here that we do not understand, and we may never understand them. Previously, we believed that we were alone. That there was no one else on the human side, but that has been proven wrong on several occasions. The rebel skitters stand by our side, as you will all hopefully remember. They stood their ground against their own kind and assisted us greatly in wiping out the alien structure, and removing the head of the aliens in this section of the United States."

Tom hesitates, as he glances down at the folded piece of paper before him. He considers reading from it before he looks up towards the large ground, and smiles somewhat nervously.

"If you had told me several months earlier – even several weeks earlier, that there we were not alone, that there were aliens willing to help us, I wouldn't have believed you. I would have told you that no such thing existed, that no such thing could possibly be true, but over the past few weeks my previous thoughts have changed. We are not as alone as I thought we were, as you all thought we were. Two new species have ventured down to our world, due to the momentary destruction of the alien structure – the structure we removed."

"Any alien is a bad alien!" a voice from the crowd shouts.

Tom's eyes move towards the direction of the voice, his eyes settle on the speaker and he releases a sigh.

"No, er..That actually isn't true." Tom shakes his head. "Not all aliens are bad, as hard as it is for you, or for anyone else, to believe that. The rebel skitters have helped us time and time again, they still help us. And these new species, they offer us technology and war winning weapons so they can help us in defeating the Espheni. They want to help us to win this war. The new species have both offered me their services, and after careful, careful deliberation I have decided what I believed was best for the people of this world, what was best for you."

Hal leans in closer to Maggie, she turns to him as he does. He speaks quietly, so only she will hear his words.

"I can't believe he's up there, talking up the aliens like they're good news, like they're gonna save us." he murmurs.

She pulls back slightly and shakes her head, but just as her lips part he continues to speak.

"We don't know if we can trust the damn things, and I bet this is exactly what they want us to do. They want us to believe that they can help us, when they're probably just going to kill us all in the end." Hal mutters, his eyes locking with hers as he speaks.

"Hal." she whispers, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and pulling him in closer. "Come on. You can't say that stuff around civilians. You'll freak them out."

He shoots her a look. "They have every reason to be freaked out, don't they?"

Maggie continues to shake her head. "Cool off, Hal. Get a clear head, and look at this rationally."

He sighs and drops his hands to his side, pulling away from her he leans back against his chair and settles his eyes back upon his father who still continues to speak to the crowds of Charleston and the Second Mass. Hal can feel Maggie's eyes burning into his skin, but he doesn't glance back at her.

"It is true that we don't know much about them. And trust me...I have heard, and I understand, the objections to the possibility of a partnership with the aliens. The reasons why I should refuse them have been simple – because they are aliens, and we have already formed our own individual judgements and assumptions about aliens directly relating to our own experiences with the Espheni and the Skitters. My experiences with the aliens have mostly been negative, but these new aliens are not the same. The reasons why we immediately think we should refuse them is simple – it is motivated by fear. The fear of the unknown is crippling."

Tom glances quickly over the crowd before he continues. "I do not fear them, and I do not believe that you should have any reason to fear them either. If they truly did not wish to help us, they would not go to such trouble to do so. They would start attacks on us immediately, as the Espheni did, but they did not. That is why I have chosen, with of course a great amount of caution, to begin to form an arrangement with these aliens. I will proceed with the correct amount of caution, and as I proceed I promise you that my priorities will always lie with you. I will always be thinking of the people of Charleston, and the people of the world, and how I may help you all."

After continuing for a few moments with talks of the aliens and what their place on this world, and near Charleston, might mean for the outcome of the war, Tom gradually shifts the topic of conversation back towards the new members of Charleston, the survivors of the war seeking refuge in Charleston.

He greets them warmly, speaks of all that they can do as individuals as well as members of Charleston to assist with the war and the resistance, before he requests that all of the Second Massachusetts fighters as well as specific military members of Charleston, such as Colonel Weaver and General Bressler, return to his room in ten minutes for a meeting to discuss matters further.

Tom is cheered as he leaves the stage, he smiles at the crowd before he joins Arthur Manchester's side and the two depart.

Just as Maggie is about to start attempting to convince Hal that he should speak to Tom about what happened, because after considering it she believes that even though Tom has quite a lot to deal with at the moment he has a right to know, Matt runs up towards the two of them.

"Hal!" he calls out loudly.

A smile immediately fixes upon Hal's face as he sets his eyes on his brother. He takes a step away from Maggie and moves towards Matt.

"Hey, little man." he says, "What's up?"

"Not much." Matt shrugs, stopping as he reaches Hal.

Maggie watches on silently from several feet away.

"Oh, really?" Hal lifts an eyebrow. "Sounds interesting."

"Where have you been?" Matt asks.

A slight frown threatens to form across Hal's face, but he manages to keep the smile.

"Right here." Hal answers coolly. "Why-"

"Last night at dinner I was alone. I couldn't find you or Dad, and Ben wasn't hungry."

Hal swallows tightly, immediately feeling a wave of guilt move over him.

"Oh, Matt..." Hal starts quietly, after clearing his throat. "I was, er...Maggie and I ate in."

Maggie catches his words, and breathes out heavily before dropping her eyes down towards the ground.

Matt shrugs. "It's cool, I was just asking. Anyway, I met someone – I made a new friend."

"Really?" Hal's smile returns. "Who?"

"His name is Albert. I ate with him. He's new – he's been with his brothers, and uncle, since the start of war and they never even joined a resistance group. It's just been the five of them since the start. He has three brothers, and he used to live in Boston."

Hal nods. "That's pretty cool."

"Yeah, it is. I was gonna go find him..." Matt starts.

"Hey," Hal lifts his hands up in the air. "Don't let me get in your way. I get it. You're too cool for your brothers now."

Matt smiles and hits Hal playfully. "No, I'm not. Don't say that."

"Yeah, yeah." Hal drops his hands, the grin on his face widening. "Go and see your friend."

"Alright..." Matt starts. "Um...Hal?"

Hal moves to turn away, but quickly stops as he hears Matt calling out to him. He turns back instantly and finds Matt standing in the same spot, confusion spread over his face.

"Yeah?" he answers. "What's up, buddy?"

"Is Maggie...Is she okay?" Matt asks.

Hal follows Matt's gaze towards Maggie, where he finds her standing several feet away, her eyes settled on the floor, her arms crossed over her stomach.

Hal exhales. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, she is. Why wouldn't she be?"

"She doesn't look happy, like she was before." Matt answers. "She's not smiling. You should make her happy again, everyone deserves to be happy."

Hal grins. "Alright, get out of here."

"See you later Hal?!" Matt begins, as he starts running off.

Hal nods.

"See you." he shouts back.

Maggie glances up slowly, as she catches sight of Matt running off speedily and with a grin on his face. Her eyes move back to Hal, who stands still, watching her with a grin on his face.

"What?" she calls out.

He shrugs slightly, the smile on his face falters, as he takes several slow steps towards her.

"Nothing." he answers finally.

She doesn't buy it.

"No, Hal." she inches closer. "What is it?"

"Apparently..." he takes another step closer. "You don't look happy, like you did earlier."

Her frown deepens. "What?"

"From the wise words of my nine year old brother..." Hal sighs. "Everyone deserves to be happy."

The frown still remains on her face, and there are still no traces, no hints, of a smile forming.

"What are you talking about, Hal?"

"You don't look happy, like you did before." he shrugs. "So, apparently, it's my job to fix that."

She shakes her head, lowering her hands to her side as she does.

"It's not your job, Hal. And I'm fine."

"I know it's not my job..." he quietly starts, as he moves one step closer.

She finds herself a footstep away from being pressed up against his chest.

Hal looks down at her and smiles sweetly. "I like doing it."

"Maybe if you weren't such a jerk in the first place." she hits him playfully.

"Hey," he grabs at his shoulder.

"Watch it. I just got out of the hospital." he teases, his grin widens further.

"That's exactly why you should be back in there!" she snaps back quickly, placing her hand by her side.

His smile remains, he leans in a little closer, and locks his eyes with hers eventually.

"Everyone deserves to be happy." he whispers quietly.

It takes her a moment, but she finally manages a small smile.

"There it is, that's what I was waiting for." he grins, before he leans down and presses a soft kiss to her lips.

Her hands slide softly against the side of his face, locking in his hair. He lowers his hands to her cheek, before dropping them to her neck as she breaks away and presses her head against his.

"I am." she says quietly.

He frowns slightly. "What?"

"Happy." she smiles again.

"Good," he nods, "Makes one of us."

She rolls her eyes and hits him again, causing him to stumble back and step away slightly.

"Hey," he says, "No wonder I'm not happy, with you shoving me around all the time."

The words escape his lips before he can control them, and he doesn't even stop think about the consequences until they are gone. Maggie's smile noticeably falters as she catches the words, and he notices this immediately. For the briefest second, he shuts his eyes and exhales heavily with regret.

"Maggie..." he sighs, eyes opening slowly.

She pretends her smile didn't falter, that his words didn't effect her, that nothing changed.

She scratches at the side of her head. "I think the meeting's about to start, Hal."

"I was just mucking around," he inches closer to her, wanting to be close like they were before.

She nods and moves forward, taking a step away from him.

"I know."

"You know I'm happy, right?" his eyes follow her. "You make me happy, and what I said about-"

"I know, Hal. It's fine." she starts, with a quieter voice. "You know Tom won't be too happy if we're late to the meeting."

"Alright." he drops his head, and gives up for now.

Hal shoves his hands into his pocket and joins her side, they walk in complete silence towards Tom's room and seconds before they arrive they come across Ben. The three walk in the room in silence still, and find that it is only partially full.

Maggie leads the way towards the back of the room, while Ben and Hal follow after her. She stands beside Anthony and Tector, who were already inside and waiting for Tom to arrive. They talk quietly for a minute before silence follows. Pope and the Berserkers enter next and move towards the seats instead of standing up the back.

A low chatter fills the room as the wait for Tom grows.

Captain Weaver enters next, his eyes immediately drawn towards the small group of the Second Mass up the back. He nods at them before he takes a step towards Tom's desk, where he plans to stand so he may be by Tom's side throughout this discussion.

Lars enters alone, casting his eyes over the room as he does. He casts a glance at Maggie, nods slightly, but doesn't join her and instead moves towards an empty seat in the row with the Berserkers. They cast a brief look in his direction but don't say anything. He sits alone, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed and an impassive expression resting on his face.

Once the room is almost filled to capacity, Tom enters with Manchester by his side. Manchester shuts the door after Tom enters it, and allows Tom to move towards his desk at the front of the room. He doesn't take a seat, and instead takes his place beside Captain Weaver. The two share a brief second of quiet discussion before Tom returns his gaze entirely towards the crowd before him.

"Thank you all, very much, for attending this meeting today." Tom smiles kindly. "I understand that we all have things to do but what you must understand, as I do, is that this meeting has been called to address all that we have planned to do in the coming months."

A moment of pause follows.

"What I believe should be our highest priority at the moment is the safety of all inside Charleston. This means lifting the number of fighters that we have to protect the civilians, to engage in patrols and shifts and so on. We should be focusing on the recruitment of fighters from within Charleston itself – this will not only include current members of Charleston who may be considered a place amongst the fighters, but also those who have sought refuge here who not only might hold experience but may be capable of joining us. A high amount of priority must also be placed upon the recovery and recuperation of the new additions to Charleston, especially considering the numbers which have been slowly moving in each week. Reconstructions and additions to the barracks is currently on-going, and has been for the past few weeks which will enable us to house higher numbers."

"May I have a word?" Pope cuts in, with a surprising calmness to his voice. "_President Mason_..."

Tom sighs and turns towards Pope, pausing before he nods.

"Of course, Pope. Please, speak." Tom says finally.

"I happen to think we'd be better off focusing on these new fish-heads an' what the hell they're spending their time doing." Pope states loudly.

Tom exhales. "Your concern is noted, Pope, but unnecessary-"

"Really?" Pope frowns. "My concern is unnecessary? Please, tell us all what you think they're doing, hmm? Sitting around an' twiddling their damn thumbs?"

"That's enough, Pope." Weaver cuts in.

Pope sighs heavily and leans back in his chair. "All I'm saying is we have to proceed with the right amount of caution...And you don't seem real cautious."

"As I said, Pope, it isn't your place to worry about our interactions because it doesn't involve you." Tom answers.

"Right. It's just my life, and the life of everyone else on this planet, who you're risking by embarking on this accord with the fish-heads?" Pope replies. "But of course, isn't my concern and it doesn't involve me."

Tom exhales and shares a brief exchange with Weaver, a silent look, before he continues.

"As I was about to inform you all...There are several reasons why I believe that recruiting more fighters would benefit us greatly. They will strengthen our numbers and our forces, and also they will prove to be useful in future times."

"Good idea, Tom." Anthony calls out.

Tom looks up and smiles as Anthony continues.

"I mean, spending all that time processing I got a pretty good idea of who was capable of being a fighter. You got us to mark their files. It'll be easy pulling them in and seeing what they've got. I think recruiting them is a good idea for all of us." Anthony states.

Maggie nods and speaks out loudly. "Yeah, I agree."

Tom smiles thankfully. "Thank you for your input, Anthony and Maggie. I appreciate it very much. Before I close this up, there are two more things I'd like to discuss...The first is the treatment of the Volm and the Etranya."

"My hands..." Hal whispers silently, catching Maggie's immediate attention.

She throws him a sideways glance.

"What?" she whispers back.

Hal looks down at his hands slowly, spinning them over, inspecting them like he's come to a sudden realisation. Maggie follows his gaze, her frown deepening as she does; his hands are covered with black finger-less gloves.

Tom's loud voices continues to echo throughout the room. "They are our allies, and they should be treated as such. Any mistreatment of either the Volm or Etranyan's, or any attacks on them, will have consequences. We do not wish to have yet another alien species against us. The second, and last item, for now is something that I have discussed in great detail with Captain Weaver and Arthur Manchester, and they have both agreed with me that it is something of the utmost priority."

"Hal." Maggie inches closely slightly. "What's going on?"

"This is the recovery of harnessed children. We plan to start frequent operations of search and recovery for harnessed children, and deeper looks into the facilities, once the patrols that have been sent out have returned and shared their gathered data." Tom loudly states.

"What about the alien technology?" Ben speaks up.

Tom's eyes immediately lock with his son's.

"What about it, Ben?" Tom replies.

"Will you be using it on the harnessed children?"

Tom hesitates. "That remains undecided, for now, just as our decision on their other technology remains undecided. We will have to view it and its effect first, before a final decision is reached."

"I should have realised it." Hal accidentally announces, his loud voice causing the room to fall silent.

His eyes stay focused on his hands, as a sickened expression spreads over his face. He shakes his head as he continues, with a voice that is only slightly quieter.

"All this time." he drops his hands to his side.

Maggie grabs Hal's shoulder and tries to turn him towards her, but he shakes her off and glances quickly around the room, like he's only now just noticed his words were spoken aloud, that he's drawn in the attention of everyone else in the room and all other conversation has fallen silent.

"Hal," Tom frowns. "What is it?"

Hal hesitates, running his tongue over his bottom lip as he does. His eyes move uncertainly over the room, eventually falling back down to his hands.

"You alright, son?" Weaver casts a look over him slowly.

Hal breaks away from the group and steps through the crowd, moving speedily towards the door with no explanation.

Maggie shoots Tom a look as Hal steps out of the doors, allowing them to fall shut behind him.

"I got this." she says simply.

Tom is hesitant at first, but he quickly nods and tries to pick up where exactly he left things off, but as much as he tries to return to the conversations and continue with the rest of the meeting he cannot stop the thoughts of Hal swirling around in his head, about what he was talking about and what suddenly caused him to react like that. Every part of Tom wants to follow him, and be with him, but he has confidence in Maggie and knows that she will be able to get through to him. Right now, Tom's focus has to be with Charleston and the safety of all in it.

* * *

**A/N: Hey there. :) I just wanted to thank everyone who takes the time to read and review my story, it means a lot to me and I hope you're enjoying it so far. I know, in these past few chapters there have been a lot of speeches (From Tom, as well as from Edalark and Cochise) but it is all building up because I didn't want to dive straight in...I sorta wanted to establish Charleston at first, and then go deeper into..Well, I can't say what or that'll spoil everything. I guess I'm just explaining why it's slow and all that because I'm worried you'll get bored of it. Hopefully not. :)**

**Guest review: Chloroy 8/17/13 . chapter 8: **Hi there! Thank you so much for reading & reviewing my story, I'm really happy you loved it and I hope you enjoy where the Hal storyline is headed. And I can promise more Maggie and Lars scenes coming up, and hope you enjoy seeing them become buddies. Thanks again, and I hope you like this new update. x

**Thanks for reading & I hope you enjoy.  
X**


	10. Good people and bad choices

**Disclaimer: Falling skies; is copyright to TNT. All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement is intended, and no money is being made. I claim nothing and own nothing but the laptop I wrote this on, any OC's I have or will include and the storyline (the parts I created of the storyline).**

* * *

Maggie moves speedily down the hallway, trying to catch up to Hal as she does. She calls out his name several times, but he doesn't stop or slow down his pace so she moves faster.

"Hal, wait up." she calls out.

He doesn't.

"Hal, please, hold up."

"What?" he spins around, his forehead creased with a deep frown.

"What was that?" she asks, finally joining his side. "What's going on?"

Hal moves to step away from her, but Maggie moves as he does and presses her hand flat against his chest to stop him from walking away. He looks down at her with an obvious hesitancy in his eyes.

"Hey." she says. "What is it? What's going on?"

"Nothing." he lies.

She shakes her head. "Don't lie to me."

"I'm not-"

"You are." she stops him. "Hal, come on. Talk to me."

"It's just..." he sighs.

"What?"

"I was sitting in there, and I just couldn't – I just couldn't listen to all the possibilities, and the promises about all the aliens because my head..my head has been _aching. _And this whole time, all I can think about is Dai and how the aliens killed him, just like they've killed billions of other people and then I-I-I look down at my hands, and I feel sick. I want to throw up." he murmurs, his words coming out jumbled and rushed.

She looks down briefly at his hands, before she glances back up at him.

"Hal, what's on your hands?" she asks, watching him closely.

Hal angrily attempts to slide the gloves off of his hands, he manages to remove them and as he does he picks them up and tosses them to the floor.

"They're his gloves!" he raises his voice, anger shadowing his eyes and escaping his lips. "This whole time – I should have known, but I didn't even think of it. I was standing next to his body and I just slid them on. They aren't mine. They are Dai's damn gloves!"

Her expression softens.

"Hal," she inches closer, her voice is warm and almost soothes him. "It's okay."

He breaks away from her, repulsion spread over his face like the simple thought it was okay sickens him.

He shakes his head repeatedly. "It's not okay. How is it okay? I was wearing a dead guy's gloves! He died in those gloves, and I was wearing them...For what-For weeks. Like it was nothing, like he didn't die in them, like he didn't die at all."

"Hal," she steps closer to him. "I think...You should go back and see Anne."

"What?" he frowns. "Why? What's-What..."

"Maybe, this has something-" she begins.

"It doesn't have anything to do with hitting my head, Maggie." he cuts over her. "I'm fine, Maggie. It doesn't have anything to do with my head. Okay?"

She shakes her head. "Hal-"

"I'm not going back there for no reason." he answers stubbornly. "I'm not going back."

She crosses her arms and releases a sigh. "Fine, but at least talk to someone. Talk to Tom about it."

"No, Maggie. My dad..." he pauses. "He has so much going on right now. This is nothing, but he won't see it like that. He's got too much going on already."

"Hal." she inches closer. "Come on."

"No, come on, Maggie. Trust me." he counters quickly. "Do you trust me?"

"I do, you know that. But, Hal...You just freaked out in there. Something is going on, I mean...It has to be. I know it, and you know it. So talk to me, okay? Talk to me."

"About what?" he replies. "I don't know what you want me to say, Maggie. I just...I dreamt about the warehouse, okay? And there were flashes, and that's why – that's what that was, in there. It wasn't anything else. I'm just tired, and..."

"You haven't been sleeping well lately, have you?" she asks. "Hal?"

"No. I'm hardly sleeping." he finally answers, sighing loudly as he does.

"Okay, maybe we can see if there's something you can take-"

"No, Maggie." he shakes his head. "I don't want that, it's not that bad."

She watches him silently and carefully for a moment.

"What?" he asks, scratching at his forehead.

"Come with me."

She leads him away from Tom's office and down several hallways and corridors, until they come across a familiar one and he soon realises that she's leading him towards her bedroom, the place that his feet have led him countless times in the past weeks.

Maggie reaches for the door and opens it, stepping to the side so Hal can enter first. He enters slowly and she follows after him, closing the door behind her as she does.

He turns to her. "Why are we here?"

Maggie pauses. "It's just me in here. No one else will disturb you. So, sleep."

Hal sighs. "Maggie..."

"It's either this, or you're going back to the hospital if I have to drag you back there myself." she crosses her arms.

"Fine." he agrees, because he'd rather be in here with her than in the hospital.

"I gotta do something first, but I'll be back." she lingers in the doorway.

"Where are you going?" he sits down on the bed, glancing up at her as he does.

"To talk to Tom about this." she answers.

Hal frowns. "Maggie, don't do that."

"Would you rather that he found out from Anne? She will tell him, Hal. That's why it'll be best if he hears it before then." Maggie snaps back quickly.

Hal gives in.

"Alright."

"Sleep." she pulls open the door, turning back briefly to look at him.

He pulls off his shoes and exhales. "Fine."

"I'll be right back." she repeats.

He nods before he leans back against her bed and sets his head down against the pillow.

She disappears without another word, the door swinging shut after her. His eyes remain on the door for a moment before he lifts them to the ceiling, his eyes skimming over it briefly before they close and he inhales sharply. Hal hopes silently that he might find an easy sleep now.

Upon her return to Tom's office she finds him outside, picking up the pair of black leather gloves from the ground that had apparently gone unnoticed by those passing by. Maggie hesitates and stands still, remaining silent until Tom has looked up and noticed her presence.

"Maggie," he sighs. "Is everything okay?"

"Er...Could I have a word, Tom?" she asks.

He nods, and gestures towards the door of his office. "Sure, Maggie. The meeting's over, come on in."

Tom reaches the door and opens it for Maggie, she enters first and he follows seconds later. Once the door has shut, he glances up and finds her watching him already.

"Is everything okay with Hal?" Tom asks, pausing briefly. "These are Dai's gloves, aren't they? I noticed he was wearing them a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't say anything because I thought he knew."

Maggie shifts awkwardly, she doesn't want to get in the middle of this situation between Tom and Hal because it is a family situation, but somehow she has and she can't back out now. It's too late to turn around and leave.

"Hal hasn't been sleeping well lately." Maggie starts off with the smallest thing. "And I don't think he noticed, with the gloves."

Tom exhales. "Is there a reason behind that? Stress related, maybe?"

She crosses her arms. "I don't know, he hasn't told me."

"Where is he now?"

"Trying to get some sleep." she answers. "Uh..There's something else you should know, Tom."

Worry crosses over his face. "What is it?"

"Last night," Maggie swallows tightly. "I found Hal in his room. He'd fallen and hit his head pretty hard on some tiles. No serious damage was done, he received a mild concussion if that-"

"Was this when I came across you, and Lars, in the hospital?" Tom unintentionally cuts across. "Is that when – Was Hal in the hospital, then? And you told me he wasn't?"

Maggie stays completely silent.

"What if it had been serious?" Tom asks.

"It wasn't." she replies.

Tom considers her words for a moment. "And after, when he was cleared...Why wasn't I informed?"

"That was Hal's decision," she says. "He didn't want to burden you."

Tom sighs and rubs harshly at his forehead. "My children will never be burdens to me."

Maggie bites down on her bottom lip and shifts awkwardly.

"Well, thank you, Maggie." he says finally, moving towards his seat.

A deeper frown moves over her face. "For..What?"

"Telling me this, and for looking after Hal. I appreciate it. I really do."

She nods, remaining silent.

"When Hal wakes, can you tell him to come and see me?" he asks.

"Okay." she answers.

Tom exhales and sits down slowly in his seat, glancing up at Maggie once and smiles at her.

"Thank you." he says.

She nods once more before she turns her back on him and moves to exit the room.

"Oh, and Maggie?" he calls out.

Maggie comes to an immediate halt and turns back to face Tom.

"Yep?" she replies.

"Tomorrow, a meeting with members of Charleston who might be considered as possible fighters will be held. All current fighters will be attending. It will involve training, shooting targets, and such...If you and Hal are up to it, I'd like you there, but if not-"

Maggie nods. "We'll be there, because I don't think I could keep Hal away if I tried."

Tom's smile remains. "Good."

On her return back to her room, Maggie passes through the mess hall and skims over the crowds. She looks over the crowd in search of Ben, stopping as she does, because she believes that he deserves an explanation for what happened with Hal in there.

Her eyes fall down upon a familiar face, but it doesn't belong to Ben.

She finds the young girl she recognises as Denny, whom she processed into the Charleston not so long ago, sitting by herself at a table in the centre of the room. Maggie exhales as she briefly considers what she will do, but soon enough finds her feet leading her towards Denny.

"Denny Davis." Maggie smiles, as she comes to a halt in front of the table.

Denny looks up uncertainly at first, before a smile spreads over her face.

"Maggie, right?" Denny asks, her smile remaining.

"Right." she nods. "This seat taken?"

Denny shakes her head, and pushes away her empty plate. "No, it's not."

Maggie takes a seat beside Denny. "How are you finding Charleston?"

She finds that Denny pauses notably.

"It's better than being out there." Denny answers cryptically.

"Yeah, I guess it's safer...Um..." Maggie shoves her hair behind her ear, and smiles. "Is everything going okay, for you?"

Denny nods enthusiastically. "Yeah. Why would you think otherwise, Maggie?"

"It's just..." Maggie exhales deeply. "I know what it's like, fitting..into a new group of survivors, and stuff."

"Do you?" Denny asks.

Maggie frowns slightly. "What's going on?"

"Charleston is safe, it's good – the community is...Difficult. I mean, the girls that I've been housed with...None of them have been harnessed, so I'm sort of..."

"Excluded." Maggie says.

Denny exhales and nods. "Yeah, I mean, it's not like I care it's just difficult. Especially with my enhanced hearing, I can't not pick up on everything they say."

"I can get you moved rooms, if you like." Maggie quickly suggests.

"No, that's fine. Like I said, I don't care it just...It just bothers me that we're fighting aliens, and there are still people like that." Denny sighs loudly.

Maggie nods. "I know what it's like...I mean, not exactly. But before the war, I was...Excluded. The exclusion was partly my fault, but also it was because of other people's perceptions of me and who they thought I was."

"What happened?" she asks. "Did they stop?"

Maggie looks up at Denny, before she shakes her head. "It didn't stop, I just stopped caring-"

"I don't care what they think-" Denny begins.

"About myself, I mean." Maggie says quickly. "And that's where...I'm just saying, don't let those people define you. You're not who they think you are, and if they can't see that then screw them."

Denny breaks out into a wider smile, before a laugh escapes her lips.

Maggie smiles. "You sure you don't want me to see about changing the room situation?"

"It's okay." Denny manages a small smile. "I want to show them I don't care, that I'm not ashamed of who I am."

"Not all people are like those girls." Maggie states. "I mean, there are good people here...In Charleston. You just gotta find them."

"Like you?" Denny asks.

"Mm..." Maggie starts, and stops briefly as her eyes settle down upon Ben.

He moves through the mess hall in her direction, a guarded look resting on his face.

"I was thinking more like...Ben Mason." she smiles.

A frown crosses Ben's face as he catches her last words.

"Maggie. What are you talking about?" Ben asks, confusion lurking in his eyes.

"You, actually. Denny, this is Ben." Maggie smiles, glancing between the two. "Ben, this is Denny. She's new here."

"Hi." Ben turns to Denny and smiles.

Denny leans forward and extends her hand, he steps forward and shakes it with a smile.

"Nice to meet you, Ben Mason." she says.

He nods. "It's nice to meet you too, Denny..."

Denny halts. "Davids."

Maggie turns slightly towards Denny, shaking her head slyly as she does.

"Davis." Denny remembers now. "Denny Davis. That's what I meant."

Another frown twitches across Ben's face, but he quickly forgets what happened and glances towards Maggie.

"Can I talk to you for a minute, Maggie?" he asks. "It won't take long."

"Sure." she nods.

"It was nice talking to you, Maggie." Denny says.

Maggie smiles and stands from the chair. "You too."

She follows Ben as he moves several steps away from anyone who might catch his words, when he finally halts he turns towards her and she finds an obvious worry still remains on his face.

"Is everything...Okay with Hal?"

Maggie exhales. "I was coming to talk to you about it actually."

"He kinda freaked out, back there." Ben answers.

"I know, it's just- Hal's been having difficulty sleeping lately, but he's resting now."

"Is that it?" Ben asks.

"Tom's probably going to talk to you about it, anyway..." Maggie starts.

"What?"

Maggie pauses momentarily. "Hal hit his head on the tiles last night. There was no serious injury, just a very mild concussion so that could explain his...Freak out. Look, I'm going to see him now. I want to be there when he wakes, but if anything happens I'll let you know right away."

"Alright." Ben nods. "Thanks, for telling me, Maggie."

She shoves her hands into her pockets, nodding as she does. "See you."

Ben smiles. "See you."

Once Maggie has begun to walk away from him, Ben turns back and casts his eyes briefly over the mess hall. He finds that his gaze draws him towards Denny, and soon enough he is standing at her table again.

"Hi," Ben starts. "Denny?"

She looks up, slightly confused. "Yeah?"

"You mind if I grab a tray, and then come sit here?" he asks. "The rest of the room's pretty packed..."

Denny casts her eyes over the room, and finds that it is actually very far from being packed and there are plenty of empty seats and tables.

"Yeah, it's real packed." she smiles.

Ben returns the smile.

"Sure, you can sit here." she crosses her arms. "I don't mind."

"Great," he answers. "You want anything?"

"Nah, I'm good." Denny replies.

Ben takes a step back. "I'll be right back, Denny."

She nods. "Alright, Ben."

He casts one last look over her before he turns to rejoin the line, finding Maggie stopped a few feet from where they'd previously stood. She nods at Ben briefly, before she turns on her heels and continues to walk back towards Hal.

* * *

Tom arranges for a small guard of Charleston military soldiers to escort him out through the border of Charleston, and he does this without alerting Captain Weaver, Manchester, Colonel Porter or General Bressler. This meeting is strictly a need to know event, and at the present time they do not need to know of it.

Several feet away from the border, Tom assures the small group that he would prefer if they would wait for him here and if he is to need anything he shall call upon them. They agree without dispute and wait silently and patiently for their President to return.

Tom walks down through rubble and remains until he reaches the edge of the forest – this was where he had sent word for Edalark and Cochise to meet with him.

He takes his place among the grass and stands silently, waiting for their arrivals, and as he does he cannot help but to recall the first, and only other time, that the Volm and the Etranyan's had interacted before his eyes – the night that the Volm touched down.

The air had been icy, and filled with such tension and uncertainty.

Tom had chosen what to do, without consulting anyone else, he stepped towards the alien he now knew as the Volm.

"Who are you?" Tom asked.

The aliens surrounding the one who had stepped off first, and revealed his true face, had stepped around him and blocked him from Tom's sight. Another had stepped forward, and Tom had soon learnt that his name was Cochise.

"Who are you?" Cochise had asked him.

"Great!" Pope's voice had echoed through the tense silence. "These fish heads know more about us then we do about them. That's what we need...More aliens with a freakin' advantage."

"Shut it, Pope." Weaver snapped quickly.

And Pope had, surprisingly, shut his mouth that second but his hands have never left his weapons. He would never give them up.

"My name is Tom Mason. I am the President of The New United States of America." Tom stated. "And you – who are you?"

'I am Cochise. I speak on behalf of my own, the Volm."

"Why have you come here?"

"The removal of an Espehni structure allowed us to enter Earth, for previously we were prevented from doing so." Cochise answered.

"What do you want from us?" Hal stepped forward, his voice was loud and filled with an obvious distrust. "Why have you come here?"

"Hal." Maggie sighed.

"Keep a leash on your boy, Maggie-May." Pope snarled. "We don't want our damn heads blown off.."

"Shut it, Pope." Weaver warned, again.

"Hal," Tom turned towards him. "I've got this."

Hal believed otherwise.

"_Really_?" his disbelief was clear for Tom to hear.

"To answer the question, the reasons that we have come here are incredibly complex but I will try to simplify it for you. We have been engaged in a long war with the Espheni, and we have seen the destruction they have done to your planet and many others. We wish to stop them."

Tom glanced back briefly at Edalark, who stood upright and with his eyes settled upon the new arrivals.

"Your species, do you interact with the Etranyan?" he asked.

Edalark stepped forward suddenly, taking large and striding steps with a few Etranyan's by his side.

"It has been millenniums since contact has been established between our kinds." Edalark announced loudly. "May we reconvene at another time?"

Tom turned towards Edalark and hesitated, before he nodded and agreed.

"Tomorrow. We will meet here."

"I apologise for my delayed arrival," Edalark announces suddenly.

Tom is quickly drawn from his thoughts and memories, and turns towards the looming figure who stands before him.

"Edalark," Tom sighs. "Firstly, I want to apologise-"

"Jedara passed your words on to me. There is no need for apologies, Tom, as I understand you did not sanction the attack and it did not leave me wounded. I do have faith in you, Tom, regardless of whether you do or do not hold faith in me."

"I want to," Tom nods. "I truly do."

Edalark casts a look over Tom. "I can see that. What is it that you have called me here to discuss, that could not be discussed within the perimeters of Charleston?"

"Once Cochise arrives, we will start the discussion." Tom answers, before smiling.

Edalark intertwines his hands and exhales, nodding silently and remaining still and upright.

"May I ask you something, Edalark?"

"Yes, President Mason?" Edalark glances down upon him.

"Your leader..."Tom says. "The leader of the Etranyan's, I mean...What is he like?"

Edalark muses over the question for a silent moment. "Do you enquire about his physical appearance, or how it is -"

"No, what I mean was...What sort of leader is he?" Tom questions curiously.

"You ask for my opinion on him?" Edalark responds.

"Yes, if you have one." Tom nods.

"He resembles you in some ways, of course I do not mean physically, but I believe him to be a brave leader, and he is often a fair one." Edalark answers.

Tom pauses. "He has lead your kind through difficult times well?"

"No," Edalark answers impassively. "We have lost far too many to claim that he has led us through the difficult times _well_. The numbers of our losses are far beyond any number that a human could comprehend. Our homes were destroyed, also. We were forced on our ships and left only with what we had on them and what we could carry, nothing more. He has done the best that he possibly could."

A few minutes pass before Tom eventually continues.

"I must let you know, Edalark, that I do appreciate your offer. Just as I appreciate Cochise's offers. Perhaps, with your support, we may stand a chance of defeating the Espheni together." he says.

"And have you decided, on whose offer you will accept, President Mason?" Cochise asks, as he moves towards the two unnoticed.

Tom and Edalark turn simultaneously to find Cochise walking towards them, but he is not alone as Tom requested that he be but rather accompanied by two more Volm.

"While I am pleased to see you here, Cochise, I am quite confused – I did ask of you that you attend this meeting alone, so that I may speak with you and Edalark in complete privacy and security."

Cochise continues to walk forward, taking long strides.

"My apologies, Tom Mason, but I am accompanied by what you humans might call as honourable soldiers. I trust each of my kind." Cochise says, as he comes to a stop before Tom.

Cochise turns sideways and nods at Edalark, who nods back in his direction seconds later.

"Thank you, both, for coming today." Tom says, as he glances up at the two large aliens standing before him. "There are a lot of things I'd like to discuss. So, shall we get started?"

* * *

After a long and surprisingly easy sleep, Hal wakes slowly and stretches out on the bed as he rolls over on his back. Seconds later his eyes flutter open to the dimly lit room, and he peers through the darkness to find Maggie resting in an armchair in the far corner. Her eyes are closed, and her legs have been pulled up on the chair.

He rubs at his eyes and yawns, before he pulls himself upwards and cracks his neck sideways to work out a kink.

Her eyes open slowly.

"Hal?" she shifts in the chair.

He sighs, wishing that he didn't wake her.

"Sorry, for waking you..." he mutters.

She pulls herself off of the chair and stands, walking towards his side.

"You didn't," she answers. "How'd you sleep?"

He moves his legs so she can sit on the edge of the bed.

"Good." he replies.

She lifts an eyebrow. "Really?"

He nods, and a true smile spreads over his face. "Really, I feel much better."

"If you're just saying that-" she starts.

"Yeah, yeah. I know, you'll kick my butt. That's why I'm not lying." he swings his legs over the side of the bed. "How long have I been out?"

"Couple hours." she answers.

"What?" he glances up.

"Yeah, you hit the pillows and went out." Maggie shrugs. "You hungry?"

"You bet." he nods and reaches for his shoes, pulling the boots on quickly.

"I talked to Tom." she looks up at him slowly.

He turns to her and sighs, but his features do not fill with anger.

Instead he nods.

"Good. What'd he say?"

"Er..." she tucks her hair behind her ear. "He was worried at first, but I told him you were fine. That you would be."

"That it?"

"Nah," she sighs. "He wants to see you."

"Alright," Hal exhales and stands from the bed. "I'll see him now, and meet you in the mess hall."

"Okay." she nods and joins his side.

They share a brief look before she moves to step away, he exhales and catches her hand.

"Maggie..."

She turns to him quickly. "What?"

"Thanks," he mutters. "For staying with me."

A smile breaks out on her face; it is small, and still shadowed with an obvious worry for him, but it is real and this causes him to return the smile.

"It's nothing, Hal." she answers. "As long as you're okay now."

"I am." he smiles.

"Good."

"Great." he leans in, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. "See you soon."

She smiles and kisses him back, her hand falling to his cheek. "See you soon."

* * *

**A/N: Hi :) ****I hope you enjoy this new chapter and thank you for taking the time to read.**

**A special thanks to the kind reviewers of chapter 9: ****Guest, mosh2themusic, SupernaturalCheetahFast, LeftHandedPeopleRule, JoyScott13, Chloroy, Guest and DriftingCloudz :)**

**Guest reviews:**

**Chloroy 8/17/13 . chapter 9: **Dear, Chloroy :) Thank you very much for reading my story, and leaving such a kind review. I'm really happy you loved that part, and hope you enjoy this chapter. I can guarantee that what's going on with Hal (the headaches, and so on) will be revealed shortly and what's going on with him is sort of altering his moods and reactions in a way (if you couldn't tell from the last chapter, and this one, about him freaking out over his hands.) Thanks again x

**Guest 8/17/13 . chapter 9: **Hi, Guest :) Wow, thank you so much. That's so kind of you to say - thank you. I hope you enjoy this latest chapter. x

**Guest 8/21/13 . chapter 9: **Dear, Guest :) Thank you! I'm happy you liked it, and hope you enjoy this new chapter. Thanks for reading. x

**Thanks for reading & enjoy.**

**X**


	11. The truth about us

**Disclaimer: Falling skies; is copyright to TNT. All Rights Reserved. No copyright infringement is intended, and no money is being made. I claim nothing and own nothing but the laptop I wrote this on, any OC's I have or will include and the storyline (the parts I created of the storyline).**

* * *

Hal moves at a steady pace towards the mess hall after finding his father's office and bedroom empty, deciding that he will find him in the morning as he is probably dealing with official or important business of Charleston and their conversation can wait for now.

He passes a few familiar faces as he moves towards the mess hall, such as Tector and Anthony who nod at him and greet him briefly. He nods back and smiles, pretending that the guilt he feels inside him isn't real and that he doesn't think of Dai whenever he sees a member of the Second Mass.

Upon entering the mess hall he finds Maggie with two trays of food, sitting with a smiling Matt at a small table in towards the side of the room. He moves towards them quickly, his stomach growling as he looks over his dinner.

"What are you doing up still?" Hal calls out.

Matt looks up, still smiling, and shrugs. "I don't have a bed time."

"You're nine." he replies.

"So?" Matt counters.

Hal shakes his head and exhales, taking the empty seat beside Matt. He slides down into it and smiles thankfully at Maggie as she slides his tray of food over towards him.

"Thanks."

She silently nods.

"So," Hal turns to his brother. "Where's your dinner?"

"I ate already."

"With Ben?" Hal asks.

Matt shakes his head. "With Albert. I couldn't find you, or Ben. Or dad."

"Yeah, that's because I was sleeping..." he exhales. "What are you still doing in here, then?"

"I was coming back from seeing Anne."

The smile on Hal's face falters instantly, and he shares a brief exchange with Maggie.

"Oh, yeah..." Hal replies casually. "About what?"

He doesn't want to worry Matt over what happened to him, because it was nothing and he shouldn't have to worry about these things.

"I was looking for dad, but I found Anne instead." Matt shrugs, his smile returning. "We started talking about the baby, and whether it's going to be a boy or a girl. I still think it's going to be a boy, because then I can teach it soccer and how to ride a skateboard and stuff when it's bigger."

A laugh escapes Hal's lips. "Firstly, Matt, stop saying 'it'-"

"Hey," Maggie cuts across Hal. "You shouldn't say that kind of stuff."

He stops and turns towards her quickly, settling his eyes firmly down upon her.

"You can still teach a girl soccer, and how to ride a skateboard." she says.

Matt glances up at her. "Really? You think she'd want to do that?"

"Yeah," Maggie nods. "I liked soccer."

Hal leans back with an amused smile on his face. "Oh, really?"

"Yes, really." she replies, smiling briefly at Hal.

"If I remember correctly, and I have a pretty good memory, you weren't very good at playing soccer-"

Maggie cuts across him quickly. "I was good."

"You hit me in the head."

She smiles. "Yeah, on purpose. I was aiming for you."

He shakes his head, the smile still lingering on his face. "I'm still gonna get you back."

"Mm..." she sips on her water. "Whatever you say."

Matt yawns loudly, unintentionally cutting across their conversation.

"You okay there, buddy?" Hal turns back towards back.

"Yeah..." he rubs at his eyes. "I think I'm gonna go to bed."

"Alright." Hal answers. "You better not snore tonight!"

Matt grins and slides off the chair. "You're the one who snores-"

"I was-"

Maggie loudly cuts across both of the brothers, stopping another argument before it breaks out.

"Night, Matt."

Matt smiles. "Night, Maggie."

"Want me to walk you-" Hal starts.

Matt shoots Hal another look. "I'm nine!"

"Yeah, alright. Night." Hal answers, the smirk still on his face.

"Night, Hal."

After chucking a brief look back at Matt, as he disappears from the mess hall, Hal glances back to Maggie and releases a deep sigh that he'd been holding.

"So..."

She looks up and frowns slightly, but her smile remains intact. "So?"

"So." his smile widens.

"What?" she leans back in her chair, eyeing him off curiously as she does.

"I was just wondering..." he starts.

She watches him curiously still. "What?"

"All this talk about babies, and all that..."

"What are you getting at, Hal?" Maggie quickly asks.

"Oh, us? No, no. God, no. No." he stutters quickly.

"Don't freak out." she says instantly. "I'm not asking you for that, and I never will. Okay? Stop freaking out, you're the one who brought it up!"

"Well, I wasn't asking for it." he exhales heavily. "I was just wondering, if you'd ever...Do that again?"

"Do what?"

"Have a kid..." he says.

"Nah." she shakes her head. "Come on, Hal. We're living in a post apocalyptic world. You shouldn't even be thinking about this stuff right now. You have the rest of your long life to think about it. Not now, not when this war is so important."

"So..." he smiles again. "What you're saying is that I should focus on the now?"

"Mhm." she nods. "Exactly."

"So, that's you." he holds her steady gaze. "You're in my now."

Maggie smiles and simply watches him for a moment, but after a moment of silence she finds that he is also watching her closely.

"What?" she shifts under his gaze.

"I'm just thinking." he shrugs.

"About?"

"My future," he answers casually. "And who's going to be in it."

"Really?" she lifts an eyebrow, a small smile playing on her lips. "Tell me, who do you see?"

"My dad."

She nods.

"Ben, Matt. Anne and...My new brother or sister."

"Sounds like a good future to me."

"And you," he smiles. "If you want..."

"Hal..." she sighs.

"What?" his smile falters, a frown threatens to spread over his face.

"I don't know what my own future holds." she answers quietly.

He sighs and leans back in his chair, disappointment etched into his face.

"But...I'd like it if you could see me in yours." she looks up.

"Yeah?" his eyes light up again.

"Yeah, if you want?" she says.

"I do." he smiles and leans over the table, pressing a kiss to her lips.

She breaks away briefly. "But, if you want me in your future you have to take care of yourself."

"What, do you think I just want to fall down and hit my head-"

"Hal." she says sternly. "You have to. Why aren't you taking this seriously? This is your health, your life. There are too many people that depend on you. Okay?"

"Fine," he says, extending his hand. "I'll take care of myself, if you take care of me too."

She shoots him a look, slapping his hand away. "Like I already don't."

Hal chuckles. "I'm serious, you take care of me and I'll take care of you. How's that for a deal?"

Maggie's eyes flicker down to his hand for a moment before she slowly takes it and shakes it.

"Deal."

He continues to hold her hand for a moment longer, before he pulls away and stands slowly from the table.

"You should head off to your room, get some rest." he announces. "I'll take these."

"Cleaning up the dishes?" Maggie smirks. "Ever the gentlemen."

"Don't get too used to it." he chucks her a smile. "It's only 'cause you took care of me. I'm just repaying the favour, you're carrying your own trays tomorrow."

"Mm." she watches him closely still.

"I'll be fine tonight, alright? I'm gonna head back to my room, and sleep. You should do the same."

"Okay," Maggie replies. "See you tomorrow morning."

He nods smiles as she presses a soft kiss to his lips.

"See you tomorrow morning," he calls out after her, after she begins to walk away.

Maggie turns back briefly and smiles, before she looks away and returns to her bedroom.

* * *

After Tom has returned to Charleston, he stops by his son's bedroom first as he wishes to speak with Hal immediately. He enters slowly and quietly, not wanting to wake any of his children up if they are sleeping.

He finds Ben first, resting in the bed closest to the door, his eyes shut and his breathing steady and peaceful. Tom watches him for a moment before he casts his eyes over Matt, who also sleeps peacefully and silently. He makes his way towards Hal's bed, and places a hand against his shoulder.

His eyes instantly flicker open, his hand flies down to his father's and he grips it tightly, harshly, like he has to protect himself, like he thought it might be someone else.

Hal's breathing is heavy and unsteady when he wakes.

"Dad?" Hal whispers breathlessly.

Tom kneels down by his son's side slowly.

"It's just me, Hal." Tom answers. "Just me."

Hal's eyes flicker over the room, before landing on his father.

Uncertainly swirls in them.

"What-What's happening? What time is it?" Hal rubs at his creased forehead.

"I'm sorry, I had to speak with you." Tom says. "Can we step outside?"

Hal nods. "Yeah, I wasn't..."

Hal stops himself before he admits to his father that he wasn't sleeping well anyway.

"Sure." he agrees.

After swinging his legs over the side of the bed, and pulling on his boots, Hal silently and slowly follows Tom outside into the corridor. They walk a few feet away from the door before Tom stops Hal, and turns to him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"It's fine, dad." Hal cuts across him quickly. "What's going on?"

"I know, Hal." Tom says. "Maggie told me, how you hit your head."

"Look, that wasn't her fault, okay? She wanted to tell you, and I didn't because-"

"You thought it'd be a burden?" Tom asks.

Hal exhales and lowers his head slightly. "Well, yeah..."

"Well, you were wrong, Hal. You and your brothers would never and will be a burden to me." he softly says, gripping Hal's shoulder tightly as he does. "Okay? Remember that."

"Okay." he nods once, meeting his father's gaze slowly. "I should have told you..."

"That doesn't matter now, Hal. What matters now is that you're okay." Tom answers quickly.

"I am," Hal promises. "I'm better now."

"You're sure? Because there's no shame in admitting-" Tom begins.

Hal frowns instantly. "What?"

"Admitting that you're struggling." he says quietly.

Hal nearly laughs. "I'm not struggling with anything."

"If you were, you'd tell me. Wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, I would. But I'm not struggling, I'm fine. Okay? I just want to forget that this all happened. I don't need you, and Maggie, being worried over nothing." Hal says quickly, shifting his stance and taking several steps to the side as he does.

"I just..." Tom follows him. "I love you, and I want to make sure you're okay."

"Thanks, but I'm fine. Alright?" Hal answers. "You know me, dad."

"I do." Tom nods.

"And you trust me?"

Tom nods again. "Of course I do. That's unquestionable."

"Then, trust me on this." he asks.

There is an obvious moment of hesitation before Tom releases a breath of air and gives in.

"Okay, I trust you on this." Tom smiles, before he pulls his son into a tight embrace. "Of course I do."

"Good. Now go get some rest, you look tired." Hal answers. "When's the last time you slept? You got bags under your eyes, dad. Don't look too good."

"Thanks." Tom laughs, as the embrace is broken.

"Hey," Hal lifts his hands in the air. "I'm just calling it like it is."

Tom smiles and casts one last look at Hal. "You wouldn't be you if you didn't. See you tomorrow?"

"Yep," Hal replies quickly. "Night, dad."

Tom looks on lovingly at his son once more before he smiles and turns away. "Night, Hal."

Hal wanders the quiet, and mostly empty, hallways for quite some time. He finds that his feet eventually lead him towards her room, and after a few moments of consideration outside of her door he knocks on it three times.

At first he hears nothing.

And then the sound of footsteps moving towards him draw in his attention and he turns to face the door as it opens. Maggie stands before him, her curls hanging by her face, a frown already resting on her face. She rubs at the side of her head, and takes a step closer.

"Hal," she says. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

He shakes his head. "Nah, I-I'm sorry...I didn't mean to wake you."

She shakes her head quickly. "I wasn't sleeping. Just resting."

"Yeah?"

Maggie nods. "What is it? Why are you here?"

Hal pauses for a moment, titling his head slightly to the side. He inches in towards her, and exhales.

"I didn't really want to sleep."

"Or do you mean you couldn't?" she asks.

"No," he quickly answers. "I mean, I didn't want to. I've been sleeping a lot in the past couple days."

"So," Maggie crosses her arms, a smile playing on her lips. "You're complaining about getting too much sleep?"

He grins. "Exactly."

She rolls her eyes and shoots him a look. "I can't believe you're seriously complaining about too much sleep. Oh, I guess you're here for company then?"

"Something like that." he answers quietly.

Maggie draws in a sharp breath before she steps back inside the room, when he doesn't move from the open doorway she turns back towards him.

"You coming?"

Hal nods and joins her quickly, closing the door after he enters.

"I talked to my dad." he announces, taking a seat on the edge of her bed.

Maggie nods. "Good. How'd it go?"

Hal shrugs as he begins to pull off his boots, one at a time.

"Alright." he answers quietly.

"Good."

Hal pulls himself up further on the bed, until he is resting with his back against the pillows and his feet are spread out comfortably on the bed.

Maggie smiles from where she still sits on the very edge of the bed.

"Make yourself at home."

He releases a sigh, placing his hands behind his head as he does.

The smile remains on his face. "Don't mind if I do."

Maggie shakes her head, falling silent as he does.

The silence grows stronger with the passing minutes.

Maggie finally breaks it.

"What?" she asks, after catching his gaze on her.

"Nothing." he shrugs carelessly.

"Hal," she shoots him a look, like she knows better than that.

She does know better than that, because she knows him better than she's ever known anyone else.

"Come on." she pushes for more.

Hal sighs loudly. "I'm just...Thinking."

"About?" she asks.

"How lucky I am..." he sighs softly. "To have a partner like you, watching my back."

A small smile plays on her lips. "Oh, really?"

"Really." he smiles. "I mean, with you watching my back-"

"And your feet." she adds.

"And your feet," he sighs. "I just feel lucky."

She shifts slightly. "Hal..."

"What?"

"I, just..." Maggie quietly continues.

He watches her closely and silently for a moment, his eyes never leaving hers. When more silence follows, he finally speaks.

"What?" Hal asks.

"I'm not everything you think that I am."

He almost laughs at this.. "What does that even mean?"

"It just means there are things..." Maggie starts.

"Yeah, alright." Hal cuts across her. "I get it. Things I don't know, right? Well, I don't care. I don't need to know them and you don't need to know everything about who I was before. What matters is who we are now, and how we can become better people."

She slides up on the bed towards him, a smile resting on her face.

"I know who you were before, Hal Mason." she teases, settling down on the bed next to him.

"Oh, really?" he lifts an eyebrow. "And who was that, exactly?"

"A lacrosse playing, high-school jock." she answers slowly.

"Mm." Hal exhales. "That I was. And, what about you..."

Maggie pauses for a moment, as she considers his words and remembers what it was she was doing before the invasion.

"What do you mean?" Maggie finally asks.

"What were you doing, before the invasion?" Hal asks, shifting his gaze down on her. "I mean, were you playing soccer..."

"No," Maggie answers, her smile remains. "Look, Hal, I'm tired. Unlike you, I haven't slept too much..."

"You want me to leave?" he asks.

She shakes her head. "Nah, you can stay. Just..."

"Let you sleep." he finishes her sentence.

Maggie nods.

"Yeah, eventually."

"Okay," Hal sighs. "I can do that. I can stay."

When Maggie rises in the early morning she turns slightly to find Hal resting beside her, his eyes closed, looking like he was peacefully sleeping. She leaves him to rest for a few minutes, before she remembers that they have the meeting and they should be getting a move on. She shoves him in the arm but he doesn't stir so she tries again, and again.

"Hey." Maggie shoves him.

He still doesn't stir.

"Hal." she shoves him again, harsher this time. "Wake up."

His eyes flicker open quickly.

"What..." he frowns, his eyes darting around the room.

Finally he looks upon her, and smiles sleepily at the sight.

"Hey." he rubs at his eyes.

Hal pulls himself upwards, and then scratches at the back of his neck, before he looks back up at Maggie.

"I must have fallen asleep here..."

"Yeah, you did." Maggie sits upright. "And you took up most of the bed."

"Hey, it's a small bed." he quickly replies. "I'm a big guy."

Maggie rolls her eyes and turns her back on him. "You still took up most of it."

"I'm not used to sharing a bed." he shrugs. "It's not my fault."

Maggie silently considers those words, silently thinks them over, pretends that they don't mean anything, pretends that she doesn't remember the last time she shared a bed with someone.

"Yeah, yeah." Maggie swings her legs over the side of the bed, quickly pulling on her boots. "We got that meeting."

"Yeah, with the fighters." Hal cuts across her. "Want to grab something to eat first?"

"Nah," Maggie tucks her hair behind her ears. "I'm not that hungry. But if you want, feel free."

Hal chucks a look back at Maggie, uncertainty clouding his face. "You sure?"

"Yep." Maggie smiles. "I'll meet you after."

"Alright," Hal slides on his boots quickly.

He stands from the bed and turns towards her, finding her beside her bed sliding on her black jacket.

"We good?"

Maggie nods, the smile quickly returning to her face. "Yep. I'll see you after."

"Alright." Hal chucks her a brief smile.

Maggie leaves her room shortly after, waiting only a few moments before she decides to head outside in search of some cool air. She moves out into the outer-Charleston, soon settling her eyes down upon small town which has almost finished being constructed.

She passes Tector and Anthony on her way out, greeting them briefly with a nod and a quick word, Maggie walks down through the small town, breathing in the air, finding solace in the peace of the outside world instead of down in the small security of Charleston.

A familiar voice breaks her out from her peaceful thoughts.

"Bunking down with Mason Junior already?" Pope calls out loudly. "Must be serious."

Maggie sighs and turns to him, a frown already settled on her features.

"As usual, I have no idea what you're talking about." she answers.

Pope wears an empty, burrowed expression "You and Mason Junior sharing a room. What about there is to expand on? It's not like what I'm saying is encrypted."

"What's your point, Pope?" Maggie impatiently cuts across him.

He shrugs. "Just think it must be serious."

"We're not sharing a room." she answers quickly.

"Ooh." Pope cocks his head to the right.

"It didn't look that way this morning." he whispers in her ear.

"What were you doing in Charleston anyway?" Maggie counters loudly. "I thought the whole purpose of this little town was to keep you the hell out of there."

"The last time I checked it was a free world, despite, you know, having aliens trying to take over our planet and wipe out the human race." Pope retorts. "I can walk wherever I want, Maggie-May. And all I was saying is you two must be close."

"It's not your business-"

"But it was once, wasn't it?" he inches closer, a look that she can't read resting on his face.

"No." Maggie answers firmly. "It never was. And it sure isn't now."

He shrugs and holds his hands up in the air.

"All I was doing was making an observation of how far you've come."

Maggie shakes her head. "Keep your observations to yourself, Pope, because I sure don't need them."

"You know, Miss Margaret..." Pope inches closer, his eyes darting towards her. "When this little charade finally drops, and you get sick of keeping up appearances down inside Charleston, you'll come back to me."

"You're wrong." she manages to reply, her expression remains hardened.

"Oh, come on! Quit it, Maggie." he sighs loudly with frustration. "What you really need to do is stop pretending that you're someone else, that you're not the person you really are...Deep down inside. You know I'm right."

Maggie begins to protest.

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about-"

"Oh, but I do. I do know, Maggie-May. You're not one of them, and you sure as hell ain't one of the Masons. Sure, for now, while Mason Junior is interested in you they'll treat you nicely, make you feel like you belong, like you're one of the family, but soon enough they'll come to the realisation that you and I already know. You aren't one of them. You're nothing like them, are you? Those boys didn't so much as swat a god damn fly before the invasion...But you-"

"Shut it, Pope." she cuts over him.

Her eyes warn him that he shouldn't continue, but he does anyway. He continues because he's tired of her charade, tired of seeing her pretend to be better than the rest of them out here.

"You're antsy because you know I'm right." he continues with a lowered voice. "You think that by surrounding yourself with people like the Masons, good and honest fighters of the Second Massachusetts, that it automatically makes you like them? That it makes you good like them? You're wrong and you know it..."

She tries to step away but he takes a step closer.

"Deep in your bones you know it, Maggie. That's why when you get bored of pretending you seek out the company of me, and my Berserkers, or anyone else that you feel comfortable with. People that you can relate to, because you know we're the same, you know we've done bad, dark things too."

"You're a delusional ass." she snaps angrily. "And you don't know what the hell you're talking about."

He almost cracks a smile. "Hey, I call it like it is. I'm not afraid to say what's true, what's always been true. I remember who you were before-"

"I'm nothing like you. Okay?" Maggie says. "Nothing like you. I've changed, and you didn't know me before. You just thought you did."

"Keep telling yourself that, Maggie, and maybe one day you'll believe it. Keep on playing your role of devoted girlfriend...Sooner or later something is going to shift and he will find out those extra little secrets you've been keeping in your bag. When he does, he's going to drop you so damn fast. You'll come back to me, because you always do, because it's your nature and you can't deny what's in your bones. Think on that."

Maggie exhales heavily before she answers. Her expression remains hardened, and her empty eyes remain set on Pope.

"You don't know Hal, okay? And you sure as hell don't me. So, shut your damn mouth, Pope." she warns.

He doesn't take the warning, again.

She turns and begins to walk away from him, and this is when he speaks again.

"You really think under different circumstances he'd choose you?" Pope shouts out loudly.

Maggie halts but doesn't turn back.

"You think the boy would even consider you? Over that blonde?"

"How about you take a moment to think on the 'what-if' in this situation. Hm? What if he saved her? What if you are the very reason that he didn't save her? Because he found you and quit caring about her. It can't be simple between you two kids. You know that, don't you?"

Pope watches on from a distance as Maggie turns and walks away speedily, back inside to Charleston. He exhales heavily, running his hands through his hair, before he turns and catches sight of a tall, light haired man watching him.

"What the hell you looking at?"

"Minding my own business," Lars shrugs. "You should try it."

"Really? And you know what you should try? Keeping your mouth shut when it's not needed."

"From that conversation, I think you're the one who needs to work on that." he answers.

Pope stands still and stiff, with a darkened expression on his face for a moment.

"An' who the hell are you, boy?" Pope asks.

"Lars."

"Lars?" Pope checks.

He nods.

"You been working on my bar, haven't you, Lars?" Pope takes several long steps towards him. "I remember you. Remember your face."

"That I have." Lars nods again. "Looking good on the inside."

"Yeah, it is." Pope agrees.

He skims his eyes over Lars. "Welcome, to my humble abode and to Charleston, Lars. You'll do good 'round here, especially if you learn when and when not to keep your mouth shut."

"I don't listen to you, or anyone else, especially when it comes to keeping my mouth shut." Lars answers, stepping towards Pope. "We clear on that, Pope?"

"Atta boy." Pope grins, casting a brief look over Lars. "That's what I like to hear. But, er...What's my business is mine, and not yours. So keep outta it, and I'll keep outta yours."

Lars crosses his arms. "Maggie is a-"

"What?" Pope's smile falters. "A friend of yours?"

Lars shrugs. "Yeah. Guess so."

"No, Lars. You're wrong." Pope snaps back. "You see...Dear Margaret doesn't make friends, not with guys like me, or with guys like you."

"Guys like me?" Lars asks.

"Look...Let me put it simply," he sighs. "You, and me – We're out here for a reason. Right?"

Lars agrees. "I prefer the air to the.."

"Crowds of civilians?"

"Right." Lars nods.

Pope shifts in his stance. "The rule of the military?"

"Mm."

"Out here...This little bit of land we've been given is...Freedom. It's where we can be who we really are." Pope continues. "She prefers to spend her time with people who make her feel better, who make her feel different...But she'll come back out here for freedom, for a taste of who she really is."

Lars steps closer, leaning down over Pope as he does. "How about...You and me – We get something cleared up, alright? I'll keep outta your business, if you keep outta mine. That includes you telling me who you think I am, and who I'm not. Deal?"

"Alright," Pope sighs heavily. "But denying the truth, when it's staring you right in the face, doesn't make it any less real."

* * *

Hal remains seated in the mess hall, a full tray of food in front of him, his eyes settled firmly on his hands. His appetite is gone. His concentration lays solely on one thing. Red. He can see blood on his hands, it feels real when he runs his fingers over it, it smears up his hands like it's real and feels wet and sticky underneath his fingertips.

It feels real, but he doesn't want it to be.

He lifts his hand slowly to his nose again, wiping at it to find more blood.

His heavy eyes shut and he exhales heavily, before he wipes his hand on the inside of his shirt and stands abruptly from his chair. After casting a quick look around him, and finding that everyone else is far too interested in their own lives, he breathes a heavy sigh and steps away.

He carries the untouched tray of food towards the back of the line and passes it towards the first person he finds, a random civilian who frowns deeply and tries to ask him what he's doing and then tries to ask him if he's okay.

Hal shrugs him off and walks away without glancing back. He makes his way back towards his room, finding that when he enters it is empty and for this much he is thankful. After pulling off his jacket and shirt, he folds up his bloody shirt and tosses it to the end of his bed. Then, he searches through his bag until he pulls out a grey shirt. He slides it on quickly and places his jacket back on before he steps towards the bathroom.

His eyes skim over the room slowly for a moment, but nothing comes back to him, no memories return. He moves to the sink and quickly turns on the water, scrubbing and washing his hands underneath it.

Once the blood is gone from his hands, and he has scraped it out from under his nails, he washes at his face and then dries it.

Once he has finished, Hal looks up at his reflection.

He looks the same, feels the same, and moves the same but something is different. Hal knows this, but he doesn't know what it is. He doesn't know how to explain it, and he doesn't know what to say or how to fix it either.

A long moment passes before he turns and leaves, hoping that whatever is causing this fades away soon. Hal walks away ready to keep this to himself, to pretend it never occurred, because if he doesn't admit it to himself then it won't be real.

* * *

**A/N: Hi, sorry about the delay in updating... ****Also, sorry for any spelling mistakes and if you find any let me know.**

**Thanks for reading, and thanks for the reviews of chapter 10.**

**Guest reviews:**

**Chloroy 8/26/13 . chapter 10: **Dear, Chloroy :) Wow, thank you so much for your review. It was really great to read, and means a lot to me. Thank you also for taking the time to read my story. Thank you! What's going on with Hal will be revealed soon, and I hope you'll like it. Oh, and sorry about the late update. Anyway, thanks again. x

**Guest 8/26/13 . chapter 10: **Dear, Guest :) Thanks for reading, and reviewing, my story. I'm happy you thought it was awesome, and hope you like this new chapter. x

**X**


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